Tobacco is a difficult plant to grow. Cultivation, harvest and curing all require a tremendous amount of work. Tobacco rapidly deprives the soil of essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphor and potassium. As a result of this the plants become more vulnerable to diseases. This problem is amplified by the fact that tobacco is often grown in monoculture- without crop rotation.

Sheer Poison

Especially during the growth period, a great deal of chemicals must therefore be applied – more than with most other crop plants. Highly poisonous substances (such as organochlorine, organophosphate and carbonate) cause- amongst other things- damage to the nervous system and can lead to respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest. Tobacco is one of the most pesticide-intensive crops. Pesticides and fertilisers are not only harmful for growers though. They also leave residue in plants and seep into groundwater, which can be highly toxic for aquatic organisms.

Tobacco creates deserts

Within two to three years, the massive use of chemicals and the soil-depleting nature of the tobacco plant can lead to the breakdown of nutrient balance in the soil. The land  becomes unusable in the long term. Under these circumstances other endemic plants have no chance of survival. A study published by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrums) states that as far back as 1962, scientists from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) observed that, in comparison with other crop plants that are cultivated in arid regions, tobacco is the one with the highest erosion rate. Soil erosion  means that the ground remains dried out in the long term. Ground-water levels drop and ever deeper layers of earth become affected with time. This can have catastrophic consequences for people living in already arid areas. All that remains are desertified landscapes..

What prospects?

On top of this, the cultivation of tobacco requires the logging of vast areas of tropical forest, resulting in the long-term destruction of the biological equilibrium. Beekeepers in Tanzania, for instance, are affected by the large-scale clearing of forests since this deprives bees of habitat space. In the end it is people themselves who are affected by constant widespread ecosystem disruption. Settlements which were once optimally adapted to their environments turn into areas hostile to life. In this case, the only chance for the affected  regions is to replace tobacco with less chemical-intensive agricultural crops and to undertake serious reforestation programmes.