Though tobacco is grown on around 0.23% of total irrigated land of Pakistan, the crop plays an important role in PakistanÔÇÖs economy by generating income and employment in the tobacco farming, manufacturing, distribution and retailing.
There are 50,000 tobacco growers producing tobacco all over Pakistan. Out of these 23,964 growers are located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa producing 98% of Flue Cured Virginia over an area of 27,036 hectares in the districts of Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Buner and Mansehra. On average 70-75 million kg of FCV, which is the main ingredient of cigarettes, is produced by growers of these districts every year. The Sector is also one of the main contributors to the Government exchequer and sourced more than Rs.124 billion in Federal Excise Duty/ Sales Tax in FY 2019-20.
