Source: PIB
Recently Tobacco Board of India has been awarded the Golden Leaf Award in the Most Impressive Public Service Initiative category for the year 2019, for its efforts to initiate various sustainability (green) initiatives in Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco cultivation in India. This is the second time that the Tobacco Board had been awarded. In the year 2014, the board bagged the award for its implementation of an electronic auction system, which has made the marketing of flue-cured tobacco in India more transparent and accountable.
About the award
- Awards are granted on an annual basis to companies that have achieved outstanding performance in five categories –
- Most impressive public service initiative
- Most promising new product introduction
- Most exciting newcomer to the industry
- Most outstanding service to the industry and
- The BMJ most committed to quality award.
- The Golden Leaf Awards were created to recognize professional excellence and dedication in the tobacco industry by Tobacco Reporter, an international magazine in the year 2006.
Initiatives of the Tobacco Board
Tobacco Board got this award for its best outstanding public service in sustainability to the industry for its, initiatives on natural farming in tobacco cultivation for production of organic tobaccos, improving the soil health through green manuring, introduction of 365 days green cover in tobacco cultivation, promotion of advanced nursery technologies- Green Tech nurseries, elimination of Non-Tobacco Related Material (NTRM), elimination of pesticide residues in tobacco by encouraging residue-free tobacco cultivation, energy conservation initiatives resulting in energy savings of 25%, development of greenery through mandatory planting of trees by tobacco farmers and tobacco trade and educating and guiding farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
Flue-cured tobacco in India
- India is the world’s fourth-largest producer of FCV tobacco.
- About 88,000 FCV tobacco farmers and their families in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are dependent on this crop for their livelihood.
About Tobacco board
- Tobacco Board is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- The main functions of the Board include regulating the production and curing of Virginia tobacco in India, implementation of extension and developmental activities for improving the yields and quality of tobacco, facilitating sale of tobacco through e-auctions on the auction floors of the Board, undertaking various grower welfare measures and export promotion of tobacco and tobacco products.
