Tobacco is an important commercial crop grown in
India. It occupies the third position in the world with an annual
production of about 725 Million Kgs. Of the different types grown,
flue-cured tobacco, country tobacco, burley, bidi, rustica and chewing
tobacco are considered important. India, as an exporter of tobacco,
ranks sixth in the world next to Brazil, China, USA, Malawi and Italy.
Tobacco and tobacco products earn a whopping annual sum of
about Rs.10271 crores to the national exchequer by way of excise revenue, and
Rs.2022 Crores (2006-07) by way of foreign exchange. Furthermore, tobacco is a
source of gainful employment. Several lakhs of people thrive on this weed crop..
Flue-cured growth, with an annual production of about 300
million Kgs, is the singular type, which contributes huge amount of forex and
excise earnings. More or less, 50% of the FCV tobacco produced is consumed
domestically while the rest is exported to more than 100 countries across the
globe. Other tobacco types viz., Burley, Country tobacco, Chewing tobaccos (Lal
chopadia, Judi and Rustica) are also exported whereas bidi tobacco - a poor
man's smoke - is consumed only within the country.
Flue-cured Virginia tobacco is the principal type grown in
the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka under varied agro-climatic
conditions. It is grown in the light soils of Karnataka as rain-fed crop and in
the heavy soils of Andhra Pradesh under conserved moisture in the aftermath of
Southwest monsoon rains. The crop is grown under irrigated conditions in the
Northern Light Soils (NLS) of Andhra Pradesh and Eastern Light Soils (ELS) of
Orissa and as a semi-monsoon crop in Southern Light Soils (SLS) of Andhra
Pradesh. Thus, India is endowed with a vast potential to produce different types
of tobacco so as to cater to the interests of the discerning customers.
