Tobacco firms eye Misamis Oriental for new plantations

MANILA, Philippines - The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) said private tobacco companies are eyeing the province of Misamis Oriental in Northern Mindanao for growing Virginia tobacco.

NTA Administrator Edgardo Zaragoza said the province is suitable location for growing the Virginia variety because of its fertile land and good climate.

Viginia tobacco, also known as Brightleaf tobacco, is the most widely-grown type of tobacco in the country, comprising 58 percent of the tobacco cultivation areas. This export-oriented tobacco variety is also the most common type of flue-cured tobacco used for making cigarettes.

It is commercially grown in the provinces of Abra, Iloco Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La Union.

The other tobacco types grown in the country are: Burley, Turkish and Native Tobacco.

Tobacco farmers in Misamis Oriental, particularly in the municipalities of Opol, El Salvador, Alubijid, Laguindingan, Gitagum, Libertad and Initao, have been growing the Native variety only.

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), one the biggest tobacco buyers in the country, has already established a Virginia tobacco experimental farm that covers 10 hectares in barangay Ane-i in the municipality of Claveria in Misamis Oriental.

PMFTC has extended production assistance in the form of cash inputs and technical assistance. The company also provided tobacco seedlings to the farmers.

During harvest, the company bought the fresh tobacco leaves from the farmers, and flue cured the leaves using the six barns it constructed with the slabs from sawmills as fuel.

The first batch of transplanting for the commercialization phase was conducted last November. The company transplanted of K326 and PVH 2254 varieties on a staggered basis from November 2013 to April 2014, covering a total area of 200 hectares.