Virginia tobacco losing sheen due to pesticides

Koyyalagudem: Virginia tobacco has lost its premium position due to the excessive use of pesticides said K Sunita, chairperson of the Tobacco Board.

She addressed an awareness camp for the tobacco farmers on tobacco without pesticide residue at the tobacco auction centre here on Thursday.

Sunita said that the demand for Indian tobacco has been coming down in the world market for the last few years. She said that the pesticide residues were remaining in the tobacco cultivated. 

She expressed concern over the excessive use pesticides particularly in West Godavari district.

She said that tobacco export to China is likely to be resumed and they could produce quality tobacco to be exported to China. She appealed to the farmers to focus on organic culvation.

Tobacco Board secretary Addanki Sridhar Babu said that organic cultivation would reduce the expenditure on farming. “The farmer would get better price with organic cultivation,” he added.

CTRI principal V Sridhar appealed to the farmers to follow the instructions of the scientists to produce quality tobacco.

Tobacco Board vice-president Gaddamadugu Satyanarayana, Board managers Ravi Kumar, Maruti Prasad, Jayachandra Reddy, P Ramesh, regional manager Seshatalpa Sai and others were present.