Tobacco ruins soil and water along Matamuhuri River, Bangladesh
Farida Akhter
Tobacco cultivation in Bangladesh has always been river-based to exploit the fertile soil. Tobacco, mostly Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) and Barley variety, is a company sponsored crop grown since the last five decades. According to official data for 2016, tobacco is grown on 46,472 hectares of land, producing 87,628 tons of tobacco leaf. Bangladesh ranks 14th for area under tobacco, 12th for production in quantity, and has a share of 1.3% of global tobacco production (FAOSTAT 2018).
Tobacco cultivation has been expanded in Bangladesh, not due to increased interest of the farmers, but to appropriate fertile lands, source of fuel woods and water accessible for the tobacco industry. Fertile soil condition is an important factor for quality tobacco leaf production. Briti...