Rains ruin millions worth of tobacco

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — The sudden downpour last week destroyed millions worth of tobacco plants in La Union, particularly in the first district where most of the tobacco farmers are based.

Farmers in Balaoan town, the largest tobacco producing municipality in La Union which is about 40 kilometers north of this city, told The STAR that the destruction was observed on Saturday when tobacco plants perished slowly due to the effect of the rainwater that flowed into the tobacco fields.

Farmers said the rains started Wednesday night and lasted until Thursday morning. Most of the farmers tried to prevent the destruction by draining the water but failed.

Officials of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) told The STAR that more than 10 percent of the more than 1,000 hectares of tobacco plantations in Balaoan were destroyed and the initial damage is estimated to reach more than P10 million.

The NTA officials said Giovanni Palabay, NTA manager in La Union, is expected to report the total cost of destruction in the whole province today after the evaluation being conducted by NTA technicians is finished.

A local official estimated that the damage in the whole province could reach more than P50 million.

Rodolfo Nerona, former consultant of Philip Morris, told The STAR that the excessive rainwater in the tobacco farms, particularly in low-lying areas, h stopped the penetration of oxygen into the roots of the plants, causing them to collapse.

"When the roots (of tobacco plants) are soaked in excessive water for at least one day, the plant will surely die because of lack of oxygen. Tobacco is very prone and sensitive to too much water," Nerona explained.

Nerona said that if some of the affected tobacco plants will recover, there is a tendency that the quality of the production will be very poor because of the effect of excessive water.

Dencio Olbinado, a tobacco farmer in Barangay Patpata in Balaoan, told The STAR that he incurred loses of about P100, 000 in his one-hectare tobacco farm. Most of the money is loaned from a private tobacco contractor.

Most of the tobacco farmers in La Union tie-up with tobacco private contractors who grant them loans for tobacco production. The affected farmers are now having problems about how they could pay for their loans.

The four tobacco private contractors are Trans Manila Inc., Continental Leaf, Universal Leaf Tobacco Corp. and Fortune Tobacco Corp.