As a strong tobacco lobby is trying hard to keep pictorial warnings on their products at bay, the Union Health Ministry along with the Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI) and the Union Agriculture Ministry has short-listed a few crops that can be viable alternatives for tobacco growers. The Health Ministry has been trying to introduce pictorial warnings for more than a year now. The tobacco lobby so far has refused to relent, saying it would affect their business and would make them jobless.

Now, the ministry has identified soyabean, gram crop, turmeric and chilli as alternative crops that could be as profitable as growing tobacco. They can also be grown on the same soil.

"The framework convention of tobacco control says to work on strategies to reduce its supply is to control illicit trade and provide alternative employment. The research and various studies done by the CTRI have proved that these crops are as advantageous as tobacco," said a senior official in the ministry.

The ministry, however, believes that the transformation would take time, as it is not easy to change the mindset of the people involved in the trade. "Those involved in growing tobacco believe there will be a negative pattern financially if they start growing other crops," added the official.

According to official data, 1,50,000 tonnes of tobacco and 30,000 tonnes of tendu leaves are used in the manufacture of bidis. The Food and Agriculture Ministry estimates that there are 2.9 lakh tobacco growers in India, engaging about 44 lakh bidi workers in the fields, in the year 1997.

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