Tobacco Harvest Hurt by Rains, Fewer Farmers
Rainfall during this year’s dry season and fewer farmers cultivating tobacco has resulted in a shortage of raw tobacco and a steep price increase, industry officials and farmers said yesterday. Tola Ponlu, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at British American Tobacco (BAT) in Phnom Penh, said that excessive rain during this year’s harvest, which is between the usually dry months of January and April, destroyed about 10 percent of BAT farmers’ total yield. “During the best harvest years, our tobacco farmers produce about 2,400 kg per hectare, but in the effected areas this year, rain reduced that number to about 2,000 kg per hectare,” Mr. Ponlu said. …
