After the government has taken a policy decision to minimize the tobacco cultivated land area in Sri Lanka the 2500 hectare land area which cultivated tobacco locally had been reduced from 300 hectares to 2200 hectares according to the Ministry Of Health,Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine. Based on the recommendation made by the World Health Organization(WHO) to minimize the tobacco cultivated land area through introducing alternative crops to farmers in view of minimizing the smoking, Sri Lanka too aimed to introduce alternative crops to the farmers who are growing tobacco like Soya,Bananas and Pepper the Ministry has stated.
As per the instructions of Health Minister Dr.Rajitha Senaratne a survey has been launched among the local farmer community to fulfill this aspect it has been revealed.
Most of the people in North,Uva and North Central Provinces are cultivating Tobacco and it becomes their major source of income the Ministry has stated. To minimize the Tobacco cultivation in Sri Lanka the Ministries of Health and Agriculture are jointly preparing a plan at present according to the Health Minister Dr.Senaratne.
According to the latest statistics around 25,000 persons in Sri Lanka have died annually due to Tobacco related diseases and 5 % of them due to the passive smoking it has been revealed.
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