Due to the allurements by the Tobacco
Companies in the country, a total of 108,000 hectares of lands have been
brought under tobacco cultivation this year; 38,000 hectares more than the last
season, while Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat districts are new additions to tobacco
farming. The shocking fact disclosed by one of our ATMA members, Abu Bakar
Siddique, has been published on the
Daily Dhaka Tribune on 21 January, 2014.
Following the report, British American
Tobacco, Bangladesh (BATB), Dhaka Tobacco and some other local companies are
engaged in making farmers interested in tobacco farming by supplying raw
agri-inputs and other incentives. The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE)
– local agri-development body, itself is worried about the turning of the
fertile lands into tobacco farmlands as
it may seriously hamper the acreage of the country’s major cereal crops like Boro
paddy and other seasonal (Robi) crops including wheat, maize and pulse, and also
believes that the current trend is becoming a major threat to country’s food
security.
See the full report:
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