HortNews
	Revival Of Tobacco Growing May Lead To NZ Cigar Industry

NELSON 13/2/2001 - Horticulturists in the Nelson region are looking at rviving New Zealand's tobacco-growing industry - specifically for cigar production - as one way of making better use of agricultural land in the Nelson region.

The number of NZ tobacco growers peaked at 763 between 1960 and 1964 but by 1986 had fallen to 125. Many more growers were forced out of the industry when W D and H O Wills (NZ) closed its Motueka tobacco manufacturing plant in 1989 with little warning. When the defunct Tobacco Growers' Federation divided up its assets in 1996, after Rothmans stopped buying New Zealand tobacco, there were only 61 growers left.

But tobacco production has never died out completely in the region: Customs and excise agents have raided at least three farms around Motueka and seized equipment used for manufacturing tobacco.

At one stage it was estimated the Government was missing out on an estimated $6 million in excise through the sale of tobacco grown without Customs licensing and paying excise.

Black market tobacco typically sells for up to $200/kg against $460 for commercial roll-your-own tobacco. Excise is about $240/kg.

Dealing in black market tobacco - grown other than for personal use - carries the risk of a six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000 or three times the value of the illegal goods.

The Nelson report proposes the return of a legal industry, targeted to the cigar market, which has soared in affluent nations over the past decade. The treatment of premium cigars as a status symbol has been partly driven by their promotion to cigar aficionados as a sophisticated experience with as many variables as found in fine wines.

Once the tobacco plants around Nelson reached maturity - a process that takes two to four months - leaves of up to 30cm long and almost as wide would be dried in special curing warehouses.

Dried to a brown, crinkly texture, the leaves would be ready to be sorted, with the best saved for the outer, final layer of the cigar, or wrapper.

Other ideas suggested in the just-released report include new fruit and berry crops, medicinal plant and fungi crops, and fish farms.

But more research would need to be carried out to see how viable such ventures were, it said.

The report was commissioned by the Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council and written by Nelson horticultural consultant Jeremy Cooper.

It said rural landowners' incomes had been declining during the past decade, due to various factors.

A major problem was that many of the crops grown were "commodity products", and the earnings derived from them were subject to volatile overseas markets.

To survive, landowners would have to either change crops or find ways to create a commercial advantage with existing crops, the report said.

It said the region was well poised for new crops, with good growing conditions, diverse micro-climates and an established horticultural infrastructure.

To be successful, however, crops would have to be thoroughly researched and carefully developed.

The report also stressed that no single crop would provide the way forward instead, there should be a variety to make the best use of particular land types.

The report recommended that a special body be set up to coordinate research and advise landowners. It suggested that the councils provide funding of about $20,000 to get the project off the ground.

Further funding of about $350,000 would be needed to build a land and climate database and investigate the marketing potential of new ventures. Trial plantings and education programmes were estimated to cost another $350,000 over several years.

The report said the councils, government agencies, various trusts and business sponsors could be potential funding sources for the later stages of the project.

It said the Crops for Southland project had already shown what could be achieved with a well-developed strategy. It was predicted that within 10 years, Southland's horticultural industry would earn more export dollars than Nelson's industry currently earned.

The report was to be presented to the Nelson City Council's prosperity committee today.