🚬 Tobaco

Tobacco

• Cultivation of tobacco in India is introduced by - Portuguese
• Family: Solanaceae
• Chromosome No: 2n = 48
• Origin: Central America
• Area: China > India
• Production: China (40%) > India (12%)
• Productivity: Pakistan

• Indian tobacco

1. Flue cured virginia (FCV): Cigarae tobacco, cover 30 per cent area & 20 per cent production of total.
2. Non-Virginia: Cover 70 per cent area & 80 per cent production of total tobacco.

Climate

• Tobacco is a tropical crop.
• Sensitive Waterlogging.
• Average temp of 26°C.
• Tobacco seeds require about 21°C temperature for germination.
• Rainfall / irrigation during active vegetative growth is essential.

Soil

• Tobacco is adapted to moderately acidic soils with a pH ranging from 5.5 to 6.5.
• Sodic soils are unfit for tobacco production because the plants absorb a lot of chloride ions which results a poor burning quality of leaves.
• Among 12 alkaloids present in tobacco, nicotine is the most important one contributing about 97%.
• Seed rate: 2.5 to 3.0 kg/ha.
• The seeds of tobacco are - positively photoblastic (germination is influenced by light) and proteolytic.
• The optimum time for sowing is the second fortnight of August.
• Types of tobacco required heavy nutrition supply including N: Chewing, Bidi, Hookah.
• Types of tobacco required low N: Flue-cured, Cigarette, Cigar
• Mutant variety: Jayashri, Bhavya
• Hybrid – GTH-1
• Most critical stages for irrigation is Topping

Important Operation

• The sequence of different operations in tobacco crop is:
  • Topping 👉🏻 Desuckering 👉🏻 Priming 👉🏻 Curing ^{UPPSC 2021}

Topping

• Removal of flower heads either alone or with few upper/top leaves from the plant to improve the size and quality of leaves.

  

Desuckering

• After topping auxiliary bud grow, removal of such lateral branches or suckers/ auxiliary buds is called de-suckering.
• The main aim of topping and de-suckering is to divert energy and nutrient from flower head to leaves. ^AFO-2021
• Done by:
  • NAA in triethenolemin (2 per cent)
  • MH (2 per cent)
  • IBA (2 per cent)

Priming

• Removal of mature lower leaves.
• Entire harvest needs 5-6 priming.
• Method of harvesting is popular in Cigarette, Wrapper & Chewing type

Rabbing

• Rabbing the seed bed before sowing with slow burn farm waste materials like paddy husk, tobacco stubbles, waste grass and palmyrah leaves etc.
• This prevents the damping off disease (Pythium aphanidermatum, P. debaryanum)

Stalk cutting method

• Cutting the entire plant close to the ground. Stalk is then hung upon a stick or lath. It is popular in Hookah, Bidi, Cheroot, Cigar & Chewing.

Curing

• A drying process, whereby most of the moisture of leaf is removed to impart required colour, texture and aroma to the final product.
• E.g. Flue curing used for cigarette process.

  

• The tobacco burning quality is positively related to K content of leaf.
• Nicotine content is produced in roots and accumulate in leaves of tobacco.

Floopping in Tobacco