Tobacco can be substituted by Other Plants

Industrial crop in Malaysia has been incessant since the success of oil palm, rubber and also the cocoa, pepper and tobacco.

In Malaysia, with the advent of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), which came into effect in 2010, tobacco farming is expected to decline. Under AFTA, Malaysia has to reduce duties on tobacco imports by 2010. This will negatively impact the competitiveness of Malaysian tobacco, where the cost of production - about RM10 per kilo - is almost twice that of Thailand. But Indonesia’s cost is even lower.

It is also believed that the National Tobacco Board will help tobacco farmers integrate other crops with tobacco with the eventual goal to replace tobacco if planting it is no longer viable.

he average price of cured tobacco is now RM13-14 per kilo. This is still profitable. Therefore, the government’s recent decision to maintain the price at RM14 per kilo at least till 2010 was welcomed by tobacco farmers.

What happens after 2010 concerns not only farmers but the government. That will be when the full effects of AFTA will be felt. The government has in recent years put in place programs to wean farmers away from tobacco and into alternative commercial crops. Kenaf is one option. Under the recently launched East Coast Economic Region (ECER), the target area for kenaf is about 10,000ha.

This is expected to increase the income of 10,000 marginal tobacco farmers and create more jobs. But the market for kenaf is still uncertain. One potential product outlet is natural fiber for insulation. Another is as composite material for the car industry.

Another possible crop is jatropha. Unlike kenaf, where the market prospects are still uncertain, jatropha has potential as biofuel. Jatropha, being non-edible oil, is a viable candidate to replace palm oil as a base material for biodiesel. However, much research is still needed if jatropha is to match the consistency and yield of oil palm.

Another option has arisen: "molecular farming". Essentially, this involves producing new compounds from tobacco through the genetic engineering of the tobacco plant.

The new compounds can include pharmaceutical products such medical drugs, vaccines or antibodies. As tobacco is among the easiest plants to transform genetically, it is emerging as a popular commercial crop to achieve what some call "molecular pharming".

Unlike kenaf and jatropha, the market for pharmaceuticals is more or less assured. This is because the tobacco plant is genetically engineered to produce medicines and vaccines that are already being used in the marketplace.