Growers have asked the government to make them part of the Indian delegation to working group talks of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on controlling tobacco production, The Hindu reported.

The FCTC intends to create guidelines for introducing alternative crops to tobacco growers as part of an effort to curtail production around the world. Meeting in Seoul last November, the FCTC shelved recommendations that had drawn a lot of criticism, sending them back to committee to be reworked.
Indian farmers say the country’s delegation to the Seoul plenary session was ill equipped to deal with growers’ issues because members had little knowledge of crops and growing conditions in India, The Hindu reported on its Business Line website. Growers, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leading government officials, asked to join negotiations on new drafts for articles 17 and 18 to be considered at the next plenary session. (pi)