The Hindu Business Line : Tobacco institute working on alternative uses

Rajahmundry (AP) April 20 The Central Tobacco Research Institute, along with the Tobacco Board and the ITC-ILTD Research and Development division, is working on alternative uses of tobacco, according to Dr V. Krishnamurthy, Director of the institute.

"There is an urgent need to do more for the suffering domestic tobacco farmer (some six million farmers are engaged in cultivation, and drought-resistant crop is a lifeline for 36 million more)," he told Business Line.

Pointing out that tobacco is a good source of useful phyto-chemicals, he said "Solanesol" extracted from tobacco was a drug useful in preventing heart diseases.

Seed oil extraction

According to him, the three main alternative products, for which the farmer has to be supported all the way, are pure nicotine of 99.9 per cent for use (as nicotinamide) in the pharma sector, solanesol which can be used for making anti-cancer drugs and tobacco seed oil, through solvent extraction as a de-odourised product for making soaps and detergents.

Tobacco seed, which contains 36 per cent oil, is also a good source of edible protein, he added.

Suggesting that value addition in tobacco leaf can be achieved through close cloning and higher population (for extracting the chemicals), the scientist said as a first step, the cost of cultivation for the farmer had to come down, if profitability from the cash crop had to be sustained.

Seeking a sustainable price for the domestic tobacco leaf in the international markets, Dr Krishnamurthy said the FCV (flue cured variety) crop yielded some 250 million kg (mkg) from 2 lakh hectares and non-FCV 450 mkg from another 2 lakh hectare.

New seed variety

The world trade in tobacco leaf is around 2,000 mkg, dominated by countries such as Brazil, the US and China; and India's share of this is 7 per cent at 140 mkg.

The CTRI director said while the yield in the black soils of Andhra Pradesh was around 2,000 kg per hectare, at the farmers' field level it could be around 3,400 per hectare, especially with the new high-yielding `Siri' seed variety developed by CTRI scientists.

Yield increase

Pointing out that yield in the Southern Light Soils (SLS) of Andhra Pradesh has to go up to 1,600 kg per ha from 800 kg per hectare, Dr Krishnamurthy said the current R&D work was aimed at a 15 per cent increase in yield through quality seeds in the Andhra Pradesh soils. "We are also working on various measures to increase the barn yields."

High priority, Dr Krishnamurthy said, was being given to reduced tar, nicotine and TSN (tobacco specific nitrosoamines) levels.

Organic manure

Besides integrated pest management, the senior scientist also called for balanced use of fertiliser, with focus on organic green manure, which can enrich the soil.

The key, according to him, was "harvesting the ripe leaf at the right time".

This is what we need to teach the farmer for higher yields.

He also sought flexibility in crop size, and urged the Tobacco Board not to be too rigid with the penalty now levied on farmers who exceed the specified crop size. He said, "Whoever has heard of a penalty being imposed on farmers for growing more of the crop".

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