Nearly 40 per cent of leaf tobacco growers in Japan intend to discontinue cultivation in or after 2012, according to a survey released by the Japan Tobacco Growers Association.

The Japan Tobacco Growers Association said it surveyed, through its 21 member associations, 10,650 tobacco growers who farm 13,930 hectares and found that 4,106, or 38.6 per cent, plan to stop cultivation.
In August, Japan Tobacco called for volunteers to discontinue cultivation, offering 280,000 yen per 0.1 hectare in compensation.
In Fukushima Prefecture, where planting has already been suspended due to the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, 488 growers, the largest by prefecture, will cease cultivation, followed by 457 in Iwate Prefecture and 435 in Miyazaki Prefecture. (pi)