Tobacco

Abstract

Despite concern about health hazards, tobacco is still not only the most widely grown non-food crop but annual production is rising: the last two decades have seen a 50 per cent increase worldwide. In many countries it is of major economic importance but because it is mostly grown on small plots using cheap labour, mechanisation and the use of herbicides for weed control is not usually rewarding, though the chemical control of insect pests is widely practised. For the small producer, the development of new resistant varieties is particularly important.