Health Before Wealth

Helping Tobacco Farmers Grow Alternative Crops

More than 1.3 million people die of tobacco use every year in India. The country, which is the second largest consumer of tobacco in the world, accounts for almost half of all oral cancers. Yet tobacco remains to be the single most widely available addictive substance, and can be easily purchased anywhere.

India is also the third largest producer of tobacco in the world, with Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and UP accounting for almost 80% of the total production.

In this direction, phased reduction in tobacco farming and helping farmers shift to a safer and economically viable alternative crop can prove to be a game changer in prevention and control of tobacco use.

In this endeavour, Antardhwani, HCG’s think tank, has launched the country’s first-of-its-kind alternative farming project in Karnataka’s Mysuru district, the state’s tobacco growing hub. The project involves 50 tobacco farmers who will primarily grow sandalwood besides other seasonal fruits in 1 acre of their respective agricultural land, putting the project size to a total of 50 acres in the first phase. More than 15,000 high grade saplings of sandalwood and over 8,000 saplings of lucrative seasonal fruits have already been supplied to the farmers free of cost.

We are joining forces with agronomists, ecologists, medical practitioners and other relevant experts to guide decision-making at every step of the process.

Willing to switch, tobacco growers in Karnataka have been unable to do so in the absence of an economically viable alternative plan. There has long been the need to identify crops which can be grown instead of tobacco in regions of different climatic and soil conditions, assure market guarantee of the produce, at the same time sensitize the farmers about the ill effects of growing tobacco on health and environment (deforestation) - a fact which they are largely unaware of.

Project Statistics

No. of farmers: 50 Land size pledged: 1 acre by each farmer Total acreage: 50 acres Location: Hunsur (Mysore) Cost of 1kg FCV tobacco: Rs 150-Rs 200 Cost of 1kg sandalwood: Rs 28,000-Rs 30,000

Butting Out Tobacco – A Documentary

International Human Development & Upliftment Academy, a social entity of HCG dedicated to fostering rural development, is partnering with the tobacco farmers involved in our project to produce a documentary that follows their journey from planting to harvesting the alternative crop. At the same time, we will explore the phenomenon of tobacco cultivation in India from a holistic perspective in order to fully understand its impact on farmers, the environment and society.

Click here to support the documentary

Did You Know?

Lives lost every year owing to tobacco use in India: 13.5 lakh Economic burden owing to tobacco use in India (2011): Rs 104,500 cr Massive deforestation: 8kg firewood needed to cure 1kg tobacco leaves Tobacco users in India: 266.8 million Smokers: 99.5 million Smokeless tobacco users: 199.3 million Source: Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016-17