Nicotiana tabacum

Introduction
• Native to Central & South America
• Leaves are the economically important
part
• Introduced by Portuguese to South Asia
• High valued cash crop

Tobacco production in world
• World production – 6.2 million Mt (2007)
• Extent – 3.7 million ha (2007)
• Major producing countries
China
Brazil
India
USA

Tobacco production in SL
• Chewing tobacco
Production – 2438 Mt
Extent – 1302 Ha
• Cigar tobacco
Production – 1327 Mt
Extent – 829 Ha
• Ranked in 62nd place in world production

Major producing districts
• Puttalam
• Kurunegala
• Mannar
• Vawniya
• Mathale

Classification
• Kindom – Plantae
• Division – Magnoliophyta
• Class – Magnoliopsida
• Order – Solanales
• Family – Solanaceae
• Genus – Nicotiana
• Species - tabacum

Cultivated species of Tobacco
• Nicotiana rustia
• Nicotina tabacum

Chemical composition
• Economically important chemicals are ,
Nicotine
Nornic

Commercial type of Tobacco
• Flue cured Tobacco
• Bidi Tobacco
• Cigar & Cheroot Tobacco
• Chewing Tobacco
• Hokah Tobacco

Recommended varieties
Flue cured (Virginia ) Air cured
(Burley)
K 326 Blanket A1
K 399 CSC 202
SPG 108
RGH 4

Climatic re
• Tropical crop in origin but can be grown in
subtropical and temperate regions
• Temperature – 15-35C
• Relative Humidity – 85-90%
• Rainfall – 500-1250mm
• Well distributed rainfall through out the
year

Suitable soils
• Sandy surface soil – 15-25cm depth
• A yellowish / reddish sandy clay sub soil
depth of 150cm
• PH - 5.5-6.5
• Very low chloride content ( less than 100
ppm)

Raising nursery & production of
seedlings
• Types of nurseries
1. Ground bed
2. CD trays and paper pots
3. Float nurseries

Float nurseries
• Intensive method
• Not common in SL

CD trays & paper pots

Ground bed nursery
• Commonly using method in SL

Nursery site selection
• Avoid old nursery sites
• Fine tilth
• Flat/ low steep

Nursery lay out
• Raised beds
• Length- convenient length ( maximum
10m)
• Width – 120cm
• Height – 15cm
• Space in between beds – 45-60cm

Seed bed sterilization
• Two methods
• Rabbing
• Chemical sterilization

Rabbing
• Spread 15-20 cm thick layer of leaves ,
weeds , paddy straw over the soil surface
and burning

Seed bed sterilization(cont’d)
2. Chemical sterilization
• Can use,
Bordeaux mixture
Choloropicrin
Dichloropropane
Methyl Bromide
Calcium Cyanamid

Structuring
– Arches
–Pegs
• To provide adequate shade

Tobacco Seeds
• Minute seeds
• Low food reserves
• Approximately 16000 seeds/g

Seed Treatment
• To avoid seed borne diseases, treated
with
– 2.5% Formaline solution
– 0.25% solution of Dithane
• Soak in 50ppm gibberelin acid solution for
48 hours to hasten germination

Seed rate
• 3.5 Kg/ha
• Higher seed rate
– Over crowding of seedlings
– Induces diseases- “damping off”

Sowing seed in nursery
• Mixed with ash for fine sand
– 1:15 or 1:20 Ratio
• To uniform distribution
on the beds

• 2 methods
• Broadcasting
• Sown in shallow furrows

Broadcasting
• Treated seeds are sown broadcast on the
surface of the beds
• Later mixed in the soil up to 1.5-2.0 cm
depth using a rake and compacted

Sown in shallow furrows
• Seeds sow in shallow furrows of 2.0 cm
depth and 5.0 cm distance from each
other
• Reduce over crowding

Mulching
• Mulching materials
– Paddy straw
– Sugar cane leaves
• To prevent water losses
• Remove gradually with the germination

Aftercare operations
1. Sunning
2. Watering
3. Clipping
4. Weeding

Sunning
• Remove mulch and the cover
• When cotyledons + 2 leaves stage
(Approximately 11 days)
• Start with ½ hour per day
• Fully open after 28-30 days

Clipping
• Removal of leaves
• Reduce evapotranspiration
• Induce root growth
• Increase nutrient uptake

Watering
• Tobacco is generally considered a
drought-tolerant plant and produces better
yields with less than desirable moisture
than with excessive soil moisture. Under
conditions of inadequate soil moisture
• The root system is susceptible to water
saturated soil conditions, and over-application
of irrigation should be avoided.

• Plant beds require a uniform supply of soil
moisture. Tobacco seed germination is
dependent on temperature, light and soil
moisture
• Initially watering can be done in every
evening
• No water accumulation at any spot of the bed
• Reduce in the hardening period
• Immediately after transplanting, tobacco
should be irrigated with about 0.5 inch of
water. This helps to settle the soil around the
roots and provides moisture to stimulate fast
root development.

• Surface and sprinkler irrigation are mostly
practised.
• The quality of the water is important in
selecting the most suitable irrigation
method, e.g. sprinkler irrigation should be
avoided when only low quality water is
available.

Fertilizer Application
• Basal application of 50g of Ammonium
sulphate, 100g of Potassium sulphate,
300g of Superphosphate and 100g of
Dolomite per 10m2 bed
• Application of 40g of 4% Endosulfan dust
per bed or one day before sowing per
10m2 bed

• After germination of seeds, apply
ammonium sulphate twise at 4 days
interval at 50g per bed
• Thereafter thrice at 4 days interval at 50g
per bed

Disease Control
• To control fungal diseases spraying 0.03%
Bordeaux mixture at the rate of 12 L for
every 40m2
• To control of pests spraying 0.5% carbaryl

Transplanting
If you are growing your tobacco seedlings in
a greenhouse or indoors they should be
"hardened off" before you transplant into
your field or garden
Methods of transplanting
• Ridge and furrow method
• Flat bed method

Ridge and Furrow Method
• Ridge planting
width – 60cm
space between ridges – 30-45 cm
height – 30cm
space between plants - 90

Flat Bed Method
• Not widely use
• Width – 150cm
• Distance between plants – 90cm

Transplanting
• Use 7-9 weeks old healthy seedlings
• Cease the watering of beds 2 weeks prior
to transplanting
• Watering well preceding day of pulling to
reduce the root damaging

• Transplant soon after uprooting
• Moist the field for quick establishment of
seedlings
• Gap filling 2 weeks after transplanting
• Planting density – 15000plants per ha
• Tobacco can be ready to harvest for
curing about 60 days after transplanting

Pests In Tobacco
 Aphids
 Cutworms

Hornworms
Wireworms

 Flea beetles
Budworms

Thrips
Grasshoppers

Pest & Disease Management
• A certain amount of insect damage does
not reduce crop value enough to pay for
the cost of treatment
• Tobacco plants often compensate for
insect damage
• Therefore Integrated pest management is
usually practiced which consist of physical,
biological and chemical control methods

Special management practices
De topping
 removal of apical bud
 Done in button stage(flowering stage)
 18-20 leaves in the plant

De suckering
 Removal of emerging auxiliary bud
 2 weeks after de topping
 De suckering agents are used to stop the
growth of suckers & prevent from pest
attacks
 Ex: ARMOUR-1, ART-78

Harvesting
 70 days after transplanting
 First 2-3 leaves to ripen should not be
harvested, because it has a low level of
solids content undesirable for manufacturing
 Only mature, ripen leaves should be
harvested
 Mature leaves exhibit a slight yellowing and
break off the stalk easier
 The best quality cures occur when the
tobacco is allowed to mature in the field

Harvesting methods
1.Priming method
2.Cut stalk method
Priming method
Removing 5 lower leaves
in every 10-12 days
5-6 harvesting times
For high quality
production

Cut stalk method
Done in 3-4 weeks after a certain amount
of the plants in the field have broken buds
Whole plant is cut at the base of the stem
The plant is then flipped upside down and
the leaves cure while still attached to the
plant
Removing the leaves
from the stalks is called
“stripping”

Curing of Tobacco
 Done to enhance the leaf's natural aroma
 Allowed to undergo fermenting reactions
under controlled temperature & humidity
 Done in the barn
 Leaves will be dehydrated over a period of
time in curing barns
 4 common methods
I. flue-curing
II. air-curing
III.fire-curing
IV.sun-curing

Flue-curing
 Tobacco leaves kept in an enclosed
heated area for about 1week
 Not directly exposed to smoke
 Fastest method for curing
 flue cured is also called bright tobacco,
because flue curing turns its leaves gold,
orange, or yellow.

Fire-curing
 Smoke from a low-burning fire on the barn
floor infuses the leaves for 3-10 weeks
 Leaves contain distinctive smoky aroma and
flavour
 Produced tobacco is low in sugar and high in
nicotine

Air curing
 sheltered from wind and sun in a well
ventilated chamber for about 6-8 weeks
 Low in sugar, which gives the tobacco
smoke a light, sweet flavor, and high in
nicotine
Sun-curing
 dries uncovered in the sun
 low in sugar and nicotine

Bulking
 Leaves of different varieties must be
bulked separately
 Leaves from different stalk position must
also be kept separate
 The bulks have to be covered with
polythene sheets to compact the bulk
without damage and to prevent gain or
loss of moisture

Grading
 Sort according to;
manufacturing purpose
 plant position styles
 external appreciation
 Important factors to be considered;
- overall colour
- blemish
- damage
- texture
- leaf length
- ripeness

Grading Con’t
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Tobacco Products
• Cigar
• Cigarettes
• Cheroots
• Bidi
• Snuff
• Chewing tobacco
• Loose leaf
• Dipping tobacco
• Cigarillos
• Topical tobacco paste
• Tobacco water