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In France,
3,100 growers produce 18,000 acres of tobacco. The average producer
has a surface area of 2.5 to 5 acres with certain differences according
to regions and varieties.
Tobacco begins to grow in early March, when the seed is sown in nurseries
or floating seed beds. Several weeks after germination, seedlings are
hardened and, towards mid-May transplanting takes place.
At the beginning of summer, plants reach a height of 1.60m which is
when they start to flower. At this stage the grower cuts the flower
at the top of the head to enable the leaves to develop to a maximum.
There are about twenty per stalk, wide, fluted and hanging slightly
down.
When the first discolourations appear, as the leaves mature they start
to turn yellow, the harvest begins around July or August and demands
much attentive labour. The tobacco is then cured in sheds with hot air
or in traditional curing sheds or greenhouses. It is finally sorted
during the autumn before being delivered to the cooperative purchasing
centres.
10
images illustrating tobacco growing
Concern
for Quality
Today
consumers and public authorities are rightly concerned with the safety
of what is consumed and with threats to the environment.
French tobacco planters are firmly committed to a policy of Agri-Confiance®
or Agri-Trust, covering all aspects of the product, collecting, development,
checks and inspections, supply of inputs and quality-focused advice
and services. Agri-Confiance® also features a green activity on
issues of pest control management, waste and natural resources (water,
landscape, soil, energy...).
In our sector, Agri-Confiance® must ensure total traceability
and detect non-conformity swiftly and accurately. In a word, Agri-Confiance®
means “doing things well, but also showing and proving that
they have been done well…”.
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