Monday, January 25, 2016

On the lookout for success stories


Sceptical over taking up alternative crops to tobacco, growers have urged government agencies to show them success stories.
A delegation of tobacco farmers representing the FCV Tobacco Growers’ Federation of Karnataka participated in a meeting to discuss alternative crops to tobacco organised by Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI) at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh on January 18. The meeting was attended by scientists, officials and other stakeholders and was aimed at drawing up a contingency plan for cultivation of tobacco in view of India’s commitment to WHO’s FCTC.
“We made our position clear that there is no crop that fetches us as much as what tobacco crop does. Farmers have already tried ginger, banana and other crops, but have failed. If there are success stories, tell us,” federation president Javare Gowda said.
CFTRI head S. Ramakrishnan said he had represented to the authorities the findings of their research on the “next best options” for tobacco crop.
After interacting with farmers and agriculture department officials, the scientists of CTRI have recommended cotton, maize, green chilli, and ginger as next best options to tobacco.

Source : The Hindu

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