Tobacco farm in Batac City, Ilocos Norte. (File photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)
LAOAG CITY – Tobacco-producing provinces in Northern Luzon were urged on Monday to increase their production for export to sustain the contribution of the industry to the local economy, farmers’ livelihood and job generation.
Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano made this appeal following his recent meeting with members of the governing board of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) held at the NTA Central Office.
To increase the quality production of tobacco, Savellano said the NTA, in partnership with tobacco growers, should focus on a doable farming system strategy without sacrificing the production of other crops.
Next to rice, farmers in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union, Pangasinan, Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Tarlac and Occidental Mindoro are engaged in planting tobacco or corn and other high-value crops.
With an increase in tobacco supply for export, Savellano said the national government could engage in the barter-to-barter (B2B) strategy with Indonesia, a producer of low-cost rice and fertilizer.
In 2022, the NTA recorded a total of 43.81 million kilograms of tobacco produced by the local farmers, of which 53 percent or 23.21 million kilograms were exported and 47 percent or 20.59 million kilograms were supplied to the local tobacco manufacturers.
He said there are various strategies to enhance the tobacco contribution to government revenues.
“Aside from our aim to increase our tobacco production for export, we are also looking at the other alternative products from tobacco and its commercialization like the tobacco dust,” he added.
To date, the tobacco industry employs at least 2.1 million people, including more than 430,000 farmers, farm workers and their family members.
Latest government record shows the tobacco industry contributes PHP74 billion to the country's Universal Health Care program per year.
In 2020, the industry brought revenues for the government worth PHP149.7 billion excise tax collections.
Of this amount, local government units in tobacco-producing areas received a share of around PHP19 billion in support of their priority programs and projects.
Backing this move, farmers in Piddig, Ilocos Norte are expanding their tobacco cropping intensity with the help of the local government unit, the NTA, and Universal Leaf Philippines Inc., the biggest tobacco growing and processing company in the country.
The Piddig government is consolidating its farmers to plant tobacco with a promise to subsidize their capital input.
The subsidy includes seeds, fertilizers, farm equipment and barn to ensure that each farmer can earn PHP70,000 to PHP80,000 per hectare from growing tobacco alone. (PNA)
