Ms. Ungvári lives in the village Nyíregyháza-Felsosima, in one of the poorest areas of Hungary, in the northern region of the Great Hungarian Plain, with her husband and three children.

Her family lives only on tobacco growing, their main income comes from producing tobacco (1.5 hectare). In addition, the family takes odd jobs for day-rate. Tobacco production is a tradition in Ms. Ungvári's family since her parents used to live also on tobacco growing, and even now, depending on their health they sometimes help the family in the growing activities.

She has been growing this crop for 20 years and during this time - although tobacco can always cause certain surprise to its grower - she has learnt almost everything that is required to grow this 600 years old culture.

They employ casuals very rarely - since it means for them high costs - although there would be many applicants because the rate of the unemployment is very high in this region. So unemployed people mainly find the source of their living in tobacco production.

Mrs. Ungvary tobacco farmer is worrying about the changes that will affect tobacco growing subsidies since their fields are unsuitable for growing any other crop.


Ungvári Sándor Mihályné:

Ungvári Sándor Mihályné dohánytermelő Magyarország egyik legelmaradottabb területén az Észak- Alföldi régióban található Nyíregyháza-Felsősima községben él férjezett és 3 gyermeket nevel.

A család csak dohánnyal foglalkozik, fő bevételi forrásuk a 1,5 ha dohány termesztésből származik. Ezen kívül alkalmi munkából főleg napszámból származó bevételei vannak a családnak. A dohány termesztése hagyomány nálluk hiszen a szülők is ezzel foglalkoztak és egészségi állapotuktól függően néha még most is segítenek a munkálatokban.

Több mint 20 éve foglalkozik ezzel a növénynek a termesztésével és az 20 év alatt - bár a dohány növény mindig tud valamilyen meglepetést okozni termelőjének- szinte mindent megtanult ami ennek a 600 éves kultúra műveléséhez szükséges.

Csak nagyon ritkán vesznek igénybe alkalmi segítséget - hiszen az jelentős kiadással jár - pedig jelentkező volna bőven, ugyanis ezen a vidéken igen magas a munkanélküliség aránya és a munkanélküliek a dohánytermesztésben találják meg elsősorban a megélhetési forrásukat.

Ungvári Sándor Mihályné termelő aggodva figyeli azokat, a várható változásokat, amelyek a dohánytermesztés támogatását fogják érinteni, hiszen az Ő földjeik nem alkalmasak más kultúra termesztésére.

Mrs. Csordás lives in Nyíregyháza- Felsősima, a small village in the Eastern Hungary, northern region of the Great Hungarian Plain, with her family, dealing with tobacco growing on 2 hectares.

She speaks of her job with enthusiasm: "Tobacco crop has a tradition in this region. Even our forefathers used to grow tobacco and we learnt all practices from them. It is not because of the vast amount of work that we grow tobacco but because our soils are so poor that we cannot grow any other crop in this area.

We have to work very hard. Our family mainly lives from the income originating from these 2 ha of tobacco.

I do not know what we shall grow if we could not be able to live from this crop!

But we do hope that the subsidies will remain in the future and finally we will be able to grow tobacco under the same conditions as all tobacco farmers in the majority of other member states of the European Union."


Csordás Mihályné:

Nyíregyháza- Felsősima község Magyarország keleti végén található az Észak-Alföldi régióban itt él Csordás Mihályné dohánytermelő, aki családjával együtt 2 ha dohánytermesztésével foglalkozik.

Lelkesen beszél munkájáról:

Ennek a növénynek hagyománya van itt ezen a részen, már az őseink is ezzel foglalkoztak és tőlük tanultuk meg ennek a növénynek a termesztését.

Nem a rengeteg munka az, amiért szeretjük ezt a növényt, hanem a kényszer vitt rá minket, hogy a termesztésével foglalkozzunk. Ezen a vidéken ugyan is nem lehet mással foglalkozni, annyira gyengék a talajaink.

Rengeteg a munka vele. Családunk fő megélhetését adja ez a 2 ha dohány.

Hogy mit fogunk termelni, ha nem tudunk megélni ebből a növényből, azt nem tudom!

De bízunk abban, hogy a támogatások megmaradnak és végre azonos feltételekkel, termelhetjük a dohányt mint az Európai országok többségében tehetik a dohányos gazdák.

The tough transition from tilling tobacco

OTTERVILLE, ONT. -- The pungent sweetness of tobacco hangs heavy in the air at the entrance of the Godelie family farm.

Its master farmer, Gary Godelie, is inside on this August afternoon, a cigarette dangling loosely from his lips, as he scoops armloads of dried, golden tobacco leaves and heaps them into a trailer. The leaves will be carted off to a nearby barn for storage for a few weeks until it's time to sell them on the market.

For more than three decades, Mr. Godelie has revelled in tilling the fields, planting the crop and curing the leaves. Now, he wants out.

The sandy soil that once reaped profits for tobacco farmers here in Southwestern Ontario along Lake Erie has transformed into economic quicksand as cessation programs, domestic companies turning to cheaper imported leaf and the growth in contraband have crippled the industry - and are slowly killing it.

"There is a day when I won't be involved in the farm," said Mr. Godelie, an affable 56-year-old with a ready smile who grows serious when the talk turns from tending to his farm to the inexorable death of it.

Amid ubiquitous warnings on the health hazards of smoking, he wakes up at 2:30 almost every morning worrying about his farm's fate. He switches on the television and eats his way through a bag of cookies or a bowl of ice cream.

He won't say how much he owes his lenders, only acknowledging that his debt is "significant." And he sighs with relief that the federal government has finally recognized his plight.

Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made his way to the town of Delhi, the heart of Ontario's tobacco belt, to announce funding of $300-million to help farmers such as Mr. Godelie leave their once-lucrative business. The money comes from a fine of more than $1-billion against Imperial Tobacco Canada and Rothmans Benson & Hedges, which pleaded guilty to their role in the massive smuggling of tax-free cigarettes to Canada from 1989 to 1994.

Struggling to make ends meet, Mr. Godelie plans to apply for the transition program. He didn't in 2004 when Ottawa gave farmers $67-million; he reasoned that if some left the business, the industry would be in a better position to survive longer with fewer farmers.

"I've come to grips with the reality that I need to get out of tobacco farming," Mr. Godelie said, staring off toward his lush green tobacco plants stretched across 8½ hectares of his 40-hectare field. To try to keep his head above water, he has also started growing potatoes, soybeans and sweet corn that he sells to local markets, wholesalers and at a farmers market in Toronto once a week.

"When people say 'Mr. Tobacco Farmer, go do something else or grow something else' - in fairness, they really don't understand. You just can't get out of debt that easily. We need help," he said. "It's difficult to have worked your whole lifetime and to watch this thing unfold the way it has."

After receiving a diploma in farm management at the University of Guelph in the early 1970s, Mr. Godelie managed farms until he started producing his own tobacco. His parents were tobacco farmers as well. So were his wife's parents. The couple bought a 20-hectare farm in 1980, but then moved their tobacco-growing operation two decades later to the 40-hectare field just a few minutes from home and next door to the elementary school Mr. Godelie attended.

The road into tobacco country is dotted with rich green tobacco plants and the kilns used to dry and cure the leaves to make them soft and golden. A row of maple trees stand tall along the entrance of the Godelies' tobacco farm. But despite the pristine feel of the countryside, there are signs of trouble. The number of growers dropped to 444 last year from 1,215 in 1990, according to the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board. And this year's crop size is expected to be 20 million pounds, compared with 130 million pounds in 1990.

For Sale signs have cropped up along the route. Tobacco producers are not only saddled with paying for the land, but also for the specialized equipment they require. Because they operate on small plots of sandy soil, diversification is made all the more difficult.

"It's a struggling industry," said Linda Vandendriessche, chairwoman of the Ontario tobacco board. "People cannot pay off debt and continue to grow something different. You have creditors. You have financial institutions from which you've borrowed money. These debts have to be paid back.

"We know there are many people that are welcoming an exit and need to take an exit and want to take an exit. There will be a lot of farmers, I anticipate, taking that."

Mr. Godelie has had to limit the number of tobacco leaves he's planted this year. Usually farmers know by springtime how much crop will be sold on the market, he said. But lately, agreements have been slow to arrive. "We're just growing it, because what else are we going to do," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Three years ago, he hired 18 workers from Jamaica and eight locals to work on the farm. Today, he has six workers in all. Mr. Godelie and his son-in-law also work on the farm.

He can see the end coming. Having bought the tobacco farm because it was a viable industry that helped put his four children through university, he thought it would allow his wife and him to retire comfortably.

"We're handcuffed because we still have the burden of tobacco. And until now, the government hadn't helped us," he said. "If tobacco is dealt with, then we can move on with our lives. We need to move on with our lives."

CAROLINE ALPHONSO
20 août 2008
The Globe and Mail

Pedro Martinez-Cuesta, aged 55, is married and the father of three. He has been growing tobacco at Talayuela, in Extremadura, for 16 years. His farm is entirely devoted to tobacco:

• 5.5 ha;

• 100% of farm income.

Pedro Martinez-Cuesta has made numerous investments over the past three years: floating-gates, harvester, automatic selective picker, etc. He grows tobacco because,“there is no other crop able to provide the same income level while employing as much seasonal labour, thus maintaining economic activity around my village.”

FRENCH TRANSLATION

Pedro Martinez-Cuesta a 55 ans, est marié et père de trois enfants. Il cultive le tabac depuis 16 ans à Talayuela, en Estrémadure. Son exploitation est entièrement consacrée au tabac :

• 5,5 ha ;

• 100 % du revenu de l'exploitation.

Pedro Martinez-Cuesta a réalisé ces trois dernières années de nombreux investissements : semis flottants, récolteuse et trieuse automatique par étages foliaires, etc. Il cultive le tabac car, dit-il, "il n'existe pas d'autre culture susceptible de fournir le même niveau de revenu et d'employer autant de main d'œuvre saisonnière, ce qui permet le maintien d'une activité économique autour de mon village".

Jean-Marie Merchadou is 34. Married with one child, he grows tobacco at Cours-de-Pile in the Dordogne (south-west France). For him, tobacco represents:

• 2 ha of Burley, on a 38-ha farm (includes 28 ha of corn);

• 60% of farm income.

In 1995 Jean-Marie Merchadou took over the family farm, on which tobacco has been grown for decades. He adapted its production to market demand by switching from brown tobacco to Burley. He employs two people and invests regularly (greenhouses in 1995 and 1998, a harvester in 2000) to grow tobacco, a crop to which he is attached because, he explains, “It requires specific know-how and provides a guarantee of regular income.”


FRENCH TRANSLATION

Jean-Marie Merchadou a 34 ans. Marié et père d'un enfant, il cultive le tabac à Cours-de-Pile en Dordogne, dans le Sud-Ouest de la France. Pour lui, le tabac représente :

• 2 ha de Burley, pour une surface totale de 38 ha (dont 28 ha de maïs) ;

• 60% du revenu de l'exploitation.

Jean-Marie Merchadou a repris en 1995 l'exploitation familiale sur laquelle le tabac est cultivé depuis des décennies. Il a adapté sa production à la demande des marchés en passant du tabac brun au Burley. Il emploie deux personnes et investit régulièrement (serre en 1995 et 1998, récolteuse en 2000) pour cultiver le tabac, culture à laquelle il est très attaché car, explique-t-il, "elle exige un savoir-faire spécifique et garantit une sécurité de revenu".

Molla Housein Sadik Kiamil, aged 36, is married with three children. He’s been growing tobacco for 20 years at Organis, in the region of the same name, on the family farm. For him, tobacco amounts to:

• 5.5 ha, i.e. the totality of the farming area;

• 100% of farm income.

Tobacco provides work for all the family, amounting to 1,800 work-hours per hectare. It also guarantees Molla Housein Sadik Kiamil “a small stable income that no other production could offer me in my region.”


FRENCH TRANSLATION

Molla Housein Sadik Kiamil a 36 ans, est marié et père de trois enfants. Il cultive le tabac depuis 20 ans à Organis, dans la région éponyme, sur l'exploitation familiale. Pour lui, le tabac c'est :

• 1,1 ha, soit la totalité de la surface de l'exploitation ;

• 100% du revenu de l'exploitation.

Le tabac fournit un emploi à toute la famille, à raison de 1800 heures de travail à l'hectare. Il garantit également à Molla Housein Sadik Kiamil "un petit revenu stable qu'aucune autre production ne pourrait m'offrir dans ma région".

Albert Reeb, aged 46, married with two children, grows tobacco in Dudenhofen, near Speyer, in Rhineland-Palatinate, on a 38-hectare, multiple crop farm. He produces rye (22.5 ha), wheat (3 ha), asparagus (2.5 ha) and rhubarb (4.5 ha). Tobacco represents:

• 5,5 ha (Burley exclusively);

• 55 to 60% of farm income.

Albert Reeb and his wife both work full-time on the farm and employ 10 seasonal workers. Tobacco production represents “a significant part of farm income, without which the break-even point would not be reached,” he explains.

FRENCH TRANSLATION

Albert Reeb, 46 ans, marié, deux enfants, cultive le tabac à Dudenhofen, près de Speyer, dans le land de Rhénanie-Palatinat, sur une exploitation de polyculture de 38 hectares. Il produit du seigle (22,5 ha), du froment (3 ha), des asperges (2,5 ha) et de la rhubarbe (4,5 ha). Le tabac représente :

• 5,5 ha (Burley exclusivement) ;

• 55 à 60% du revenu de l'exploitation.

Albert Reeb et sa femme travaillent tous deux à temps plein sur l'exploitation et emploient dix travailleurs saisonniers. La production de tabac représente "une part importante du revenu de l'exploitation sans laquelle le seuil de rentabilité ne serait pas atteint" explique-t-il.

Serafino Tucci is aged 45. Married with two children, he took over the 2-hectare family farm in Campania, on which he’s been growing tobacco for 20 years, as well as corn.

Tobacco-growing represents:

• 1 ha, i.e. half the farm area;

• 80% of farm income.

For Serafino Tucci, tobacco growing is the only source of income that’s economically and agronomically viable. He invests regularly in drying equipment and greenhouses for the plantations.

FRENCH TRANSLATION :

Serafino Tucci est âgé de 45 ans. Marié et père de deux enfants, il a repris l'exploitation familiale de 2 hectares en Campanie, sur laquelle il cultive du tabac depuis 20 ans et du maïs. La culture du tabac représente :

• 1 ha, soit la moitié de la surface de l'exploitation ;

• 80% du revenu de l'exploitation.

Pour Serafino Tucci, la tabaculture est la seule source de revenu économiquement et agronomiquement viable. Il investit régulièrement dans le matériel de séchage et les serres pour les plantations.