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Pakistan Tobacco Board is helping the tobacco growers by various means for the safety of their crops and intersts.

1.    Price fixation
PTB carries out cost of production survey every year in all tobacco growing areas of the country. Findings of the survey are placed before the board which recommends the prices of all types of tobacco to the Government. The prices are notified in the Official Gazette after approval of the Government on yearly basis. PTB ensures the weighted average prices to be paid by the tobacco companies and tobacco dealers, agents and mandiwalas of tobacco from the crop of any year to the tobacco growers shall not be lower than the weighted average price paid to them for the crop of the immediately preceding year.


2.    Market forecast
Growers are informed well in time about the coming market demand of tobacco for the next year. The Board publicize the indicated requirement of all tobacco companies for various types of tobacco, in appropriate manner, before the commencement of planting season every year. Every tobacco company, dealer, or exporter intending to purchase tobacco during a crop year shall indicted to the Board its total requirements of the tobacco form the ensuring crop, by the 31st day of October in each year.


3.    Agreement with companies
PTB encourage contractual farming of tobacco. Every tobacco company for the purchase of their targeted requirements of Flue cured Virginia (FCV) , Burley, Dark Air Cured (DAC) or Cigar tobacco shall execute agreements with the growers on the form prescribed by the Board by the 31st day of December in respect of the ensuing crop of tobacco.


4.    Commencement of purchase season
To ensure timely purchase of tobacco by farmers, PTB constitute committee comprising of its own official and representatives of Provincial Agriculture Department, tobacco companies and tobacco growers to fix a data or dates for the commencement of tobacco purchases after surveying the condition of standing crop in different areas, and also to chalk out proper time schedule for purchase of tobacco at various depots.
All tobacco companies and tobacco dealers shall commence purchases of tobacco from the date or dates as may be fixed by the Board in the manner specified in sub-rule (1).
All tobacco companies and other Purchasers shall observe timings for tobacco business at the depots as the Board may determine.


5.    Supervision of marketing
 During the purchase season, PTB directs all its field officers/staff to monitor the marketing activities under the supervision of Deputy Director Marketing. Purchase data from all the announced purchase depots is collected on daily basis by the officers/field staff of PTB.
6.    Timely Payment
The payment of dues to the growers by the tobacco companies or purchasers as a result of sale transaction of tobacco during a purchase season shall be made through designated Banks and is accordance with a schedule prescribed by PTB for timely payment.


7.    Closure of purchase season.
 No tobacco company or tobacco dealer shall close its purchase depots or business premises till such time it has purchased its full targeted demand of various types of tobacco, or in case of a surplus productions, the additional quantity of particular types of tobacco which may be allocated by the Board to the individual tobacco companies or dealers proportionate to their purchase targets. 


8.    Supervision regarding down grading or rejection.
The vigilance Committees check the grades assigned to various types of tobacco and ensure that no purchaser unnecessarily rejects, or pays price for tobacco, at rates lower than the minimum notified rates. It also resolves the differences or disputes between the tobacco growers and tobacco companies, if any, arising out of sale and purchase transactions of tobacco between the parties.
 
 
9.    Lab analysis facility
The facility of Lab analysis of soil, water and tobacco leaves is being provided to growers at different research stations in the Province of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


10. Disease diagnosis
If growers see some disease or insect attack or any other problem related to tobacco in field, they can visit any of our research station. Our well experienced field Officers will be  available all over the tobacco growing areas of the country at following places to facilitate;
Khyberpukhtunkhawh i) Mansehra ii) Buner iii) Yar Hussain (Swabi) iv) Chota Lahore (Swabi) v) Charbagh (Swabi) vi) Jamal Garhi (Mardan) vii) Sher Garh (Mardan) viii) Takht bai (Mardan) ix) Mandni (Charsadda) x) Sardheri (Charsadda)
Punjab i) Gujrat ii) Mandi Bahauddin iii) Okara iv) Sahiwal v) Jampur vi) Bahawalpur vii) Vehari viii)
Hazra (Attock) Rasoolabad (Sindh) and Pishin (Balochistan).


11. Variety development
PTB Introduce high yielding and disease tolerance tobacco hybrids with the collaboration of tobacco companies.


12. Extension services
Extension services through the offices of Assistant Development Officers (ADOs) have been established at pivotal points in tobacco growing areas for quick dissemination of new technology to tobacco growers in order to increase per hectare yield, introduce new varieties possessing greater tolerance against pests/diseases as well as capable of yielding better quality leaf and improving the curing techniques so as to bring about desirable chemical changes in tobacco leaf to be consumed for manufacture of cigarettes.


13. Demonstration plots
Development staff also conduct demonstration/model plots in their respective areas to educate the growers about the production technology of crop and arrange field days at different stages of the crop.
 
 
14. Radio talks
Conduct different radio talks and write articles in Zarat Nama to educate the tobacco growers about production technology and latest tobacco techniques.


15. New Technology
a)   Nursery sowing
PTB Introduce new technology for raising of nursery on raised beds instead of flat land and introduce float system of nursery sowing with collaboration of tobacco companies to raise nursery in trays using different growth media. It benefits the growers as
├ÿ Reduce labor cost
├ÿ Produce healthy nursery and uproot with the intact root ball
├ÿ Low attack of fungus
├ÿ Easy to transplant in the field
├ÿ Cover less space as compare to conventional seed beds
├ÿ Seedlings bear the harshness of weather in better way after transplantation in the field.
b)   Barn modification
PTB Modified more than 400 tobacco barns of growers free of cost that reduce 25 to 30 % consumption of fuel wood and produce good quality tobacco.
16. Compensation regarding Burnt Barns.

PTB supports the growers whose barns have been burnt during curing after proper verification.
17. Facilitation in input supply


Every year PTB arranges meeting with Fertilizer and pesticide companies to ensure timely availability of inputs at reasonable prices in all over the tobacco growing areas.