Reduction in incentives causes 18% decrease in cultivation - The Kentucky tobacco plant, whose leaves are used in the celebrated Toscano cigars, faces a decline that could lead to extinction.
This is in line with a more general trend that has seen an overall downturn in tobacco harvesting in Italy due to a reduction in EU incentives.
The alarm was sounded by the Nomisma study centre in Bologna, whose recent research concluded that the reduction in EU incentives to farmers during the first year of the new 'OCM Tobacco' program, has caused an 18% reduction in the cultivation in Kentucky tobacco from 2005 to 2006 (from 4,194 tons to 3,452 tons).
In 2006, cultivated tobacco fields saw an 18% overall decrease in production - from 130,000 to 96,000 tons (-41% in the last 10 years).
Researchers commented: "The consequence is that by 2010, it will become less economically feasible to produce Toscano cigars."
Nomisma writes that "when taking into consideration the high production costs, as well as the decrease in EU aid, Italy runs the risk of abandoning tobacco production, including Kentucky, by 2010."
The cultivation of Kentucky tobacco is concentrated mainly in Italy, and is used in making the famed Toscano cigar. Thanks to a specific harvesting process and traditional drying and manufacturing processes, the final product is rendered so unique that it cannot be replicated elsewhere.
