Farmers left exposed as local buyers ignore PTB price and quota directives

Business Recorder reported that tobacco growers face serious distress because several buyers who had posed as farmers' defenders are now failing them. Under the PTB Ordinance 1968, buyers must announce demand, lift the declared crop and pay the price the Pakistan Tobacco Board sets. Compliance is uneven, as Pakistan Tobacco Company has taken in close to 60 percent of its declared 17.6 Mn Kg quota over about a month, paying the notified rate.

PTB had already warned 107 local firms and dealers on 31 July for announcing quotas without starting purchases. Reports from growing areas say many have still not begun buying, others are taking far less than declared demand, and some pay below the directed rate. Farmers are offered rates below the weighted average, while PTB officials have sealed depots of several firms, including Khyber Tobacco Company, for non-compliance.

Past seasons ended with middlemen and local firms vanishing without paying dues, and this year's surplus, which this newspaper flagged earlier, has now appeared. Farmers holding unsold tobacco face spoilage, distress sales and unpaid amounts, and in Swabi growers burnt 500 KGs of tobacco during the second week of August in protest. Observers want the PTB to check that buying matches declared demand, act on sub-notified payments and enforce the timeline under the Pakistan Tobacco Control Rules of 2016.