Aside from cigarettes, tobacco leaves can also be used as organic pesticides against aphids, leaf rollers and stem borers. It is also said to be more effective and much safer than chemical-based pesticides which destroys soil productivity and harm the environment.
Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company Mighty Corporation or Might Corp plans to develop and promote the alternative use for tobacco, to help reduce Filipino farmers’ reliance on chemical-based pesticides, increase tobacco farmers’ income, and protect the environment.
Mighty Corp executive vice president Oscar Barrientos said that the move was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility. He noted that a small but growing number of Filipino farmers were shifting from chemical-based to organic pesticides to organic agri pesticides, or a combination of the two.
The company coordinated with key agencies like the National Tobacco Administration (NTA), Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB) in this effort.
Filipino farmers make up 11.55 million of the country’s 38.6-million-member labor force and contribute 20% of its gross domestic product. Insects and other pests have adversely affected farmers’ production of main agricultural crops, including rice, corn, coconuts, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, coffee, mangoes and abaca. Also affected are secondary crops like peanuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, cabbages, eggplants, calamansi, rubber, and cotton. Nicotine from tobacco has been used on crops as a natural insecticide that does not have the health and environmental risks of chemical-based pesticides.
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