The remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, known for embracing a gross national happiness index and outlawing television before 1999, has now made the unusual decision to reverse a ban on the sale of tobacco, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tobacco Board has reduced the crop size in Andhra Pradesh to 115 thousand tons, from the 135 thousand tons last season due to the reduced tobacco procurement this year, caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The 2020 tobacco marketing season officially came to an end after most growers sold their crop and are now concentrating on seedbeds ahead of transplanting which starts next month.

The International Tobacco Growers Association is campaigning to help noncontracted farmers cope with the coronavirus pandemic. While the multinational cigarette makers are likely to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with only minor bruises, some of their suppliers are in dire straits. For noncontracted tobacco farmers, who rely on busy sales floors and healthy farm hands to ply their trade, the crisis has been downright devastating.

ITGA has been in close contact with its member associations and is working to assess the main difficulties this crisis is posing to tobacco growers. As part of our efforts surveys have been conducted in order to identify possible areas of intervention. ITGA's international spread allows for a clear view of the challenges which each region is facing. The next piece is an interview with ITGA's Vice-President, José J. Aranda of the Cámara del Tabaco de Salta (Argentina).

"Irate tobacco farmers have taken Tobaco Commission to court for its decision not to allow the growers witness the sale of their leaf in auction floors due to coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) as tobacco prices continue to plummet.

"The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), has relaxed part of the stringent conditions for tobacco marketing this year that were adopted to prevent and minimise the spread of Covid-19. However, one of the farmers’ main bone of contention, the fixed exchange and the forex retention threshold, were not immediately resolved, as the request had been submitted to Reserve Bank.

"An experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by cigarette maker British American Tobacco Plc is poised to begin testing in humans. Pre-clinical tests of the vaccine showed a positive immune response, the London-based maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes said Friday in a statement. The first phase of human trials could begin as soon as late June if authorized by drug regulators, BAT said.

Zimbabwe’s 2020 tobacco marketing season opened Wednesday, April 29, with the first bale selling at $4 per kg, reports The Herald. Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri opened the selling season at Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) at a ceremony witnessed by his deputies—Vangelis Haritatos and Douglas Karoro—Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) officials, farmers’ unions, merchants and farmers.

Only 5 per cent of India’s tobacco has been auctioned, whilst in previous years around 50 per cent of tobacco had been auctioned by this time, reported The New Indian Express.

Tobacco sales at Chinkhoma Auction Floors, have been described as impressive with the maximum price reaching US$ 2.40 per Kg on the opening day. In an interview, Controller of Agriculture Services responsible for Institutions, Dr. Alexander Bulirani said the sales started at a very good note. “We have the impression that we started on a positive note. Looking at the prices, they are very much promising because, the maximum price being paid by JTI is US$ 2.40 per Kg. We expect the average price to almost match US$ 1.40 realized at Kanengo Auction floors,” he pointed out.

The ITGA has focused its efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic in the areas and members which would be most exposed to the adverse effects of a health crisis. ITGA has been working directly with its members specifically in Zimbabwe. The next piece is a collection of recommendations by Mayiwepi Jitti, President of the Integrated Commercial Farmers Union (ICFU), which has been at the forefront of the prevention efforts against the coronavirus.

"The Ministry of Health and Child Care has released shocking statistics of malaria cases amid fears that these could be undetected Covid-19 cases. "The cumulative figures for malaria are 135 585 cases and 131 deaths," reads the statement from the Healthcare ministry.

ITGA has been in close contact with its member associations and is working to assess the main difficulties this crisis is posing to tobacco growers. As part of our efforts surveys have been conducted in order to identify possible areas of intervention. The next piece is an interview with ITGA's Ex-President, Daniel Green of Burley Stabilization Corporation (U.S.).

Zimbabwe will decentralize its tobacco sales this year to avoid concentrations of people and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. “With regards to the tobacco sector, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has been sitting and consulting our Covid-19 Inter-Ministerial Taskforce, and they have come to an arrangement where the tobacco auction floors are going to be decentralized countrywide to minimize crowding,” said Mnangagwa.

Maximum prices for contract tobacco reached $2.30 per kg while noncontract leaf fetched $1.20 on the first day of the tobacco selling season in Malawi. Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Francis Kasaila on Monday officially opened the 2020 marketing season at Lilongwe Auction Floors with a secret price-bidding exercise.

AS COVID-19 continues to rear its ugly head globally and locally, stakeholders in the tobacco industry have proposed an operational framework to use during the tobacco marketing season tentatively set for next Wednesday. The proposed safety measures include minimising the number of growers to 20 on the buying arena, provision of toll free phone numbers for booking at all selling points and restricting sales to one person per grower number, NewsDay Business has established.

Measures to prevent COVID-19 were launched at the CTM in Alem. With shifts and controls, producers were able to deliver the product. This first stage will be until Wednesday. The collection of tobacco for the 2019/2020 campaign began at the CTM of Leandro N. Alem. At 7 o'clock in the morning, the two tapes that received tobacco from some 25 producers in the southern zone were enabled.

Licensed tobacco markets will open this month, following strict guidelines to help prevent the spread of Covid-19. The Malawi government earlier decided that tobacco markets should open to protect growers. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has listed April 20 as the opening date for the markets.

Government last week invoked extraordinary regulations that do not allow gatherings of more than 100 people, as it takes pre-emptive measures to prevent the outbreak the novel coronavirus. The coronavirus spreads through person-to-person contact.