PHILIPPINES
The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has said the Philippines’ tobacco output could decrease by 17% this year because of the declining number of tobacco areas and farmers nationwide.
NTA administrator, Roberto L. Seares, said production may slip to 40 million kg, compared to 48.22 million kg in 2017.
Seares also said the drop may be blamed on the strict nationwide smoking ban, which further reduced cigarette consumption and impacted tobacco leaf output, and that the number of farmers and planted areas have been decreasing in the last three years by 17% and 15%, respectively.
Based on the NTA’s 2013–2017 data, the number of tobacco farmers plunged by 40% from 53,959 to 34,465, and tobacco planted areas dropped 43% from 37,021 to 22,704 hectares.
NTA figures also show that the volume of tobacco production also fell by 30% from 68 million kg to 48 million kg, while value went down 21% from PHP4.67 billion to PHP3.65 billion.
The NTA remains optimistic, though, saying the decision of farmers to shift to other crops may be temporary, as they always come back after a year or two, reportedly because of lack of production support, small markets, and unstable prices for other crops.