‘Tobacco production may fall 17% in 2018’

year because of the declining number of tobacco areas and farmers nationwide, the National Tobacco Administration ( NTA)

At a press conference in Quezon

According to him, the drop may be blamed on the strict nationwide smoking ban, which further reduced cigarette consumption and impacted tobacco

This will cause the number of farmers and areas planted with tobacco to drop, “which have been decreasing in the last three

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data, the number of tobacco farmers and areas plunged by 40 The volume and value of tobacco production also fell by 30

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The decision of farmers to shift to other crops may be temporary, the NTA noted, as they always come back after a year or two, reportedly because of lack of production support, small markets, and unstable prices for

Seares said the NTA was now focused on cultivating tobacco leaves for export and as substitutes for blending tobacco being imported

The agency will also implement the Total Tobacco Growing Program System to address the volume and quality requirement for domestic manufacturing and for export, based on the purchase commitment to be submitted to companies, starting tobacco

“We have to invest [in providing] production assistance and inputs to tobacco farmers for shifting [to] topped tobacco production; irrigation facilities, and

air- curing sheds for burley and native tobacco, among others,”

NTA will assist farmers, especially those without marketing agreements with companies and those in adversely affected areas, on economically sustainable, marketdriven, and high-value crops and

NTA is mandated to administer and regulate the Philippine