MANSEHRA: The heavy downpour followed by the hailstorm has destroyed the tobacco crops in Baffa-Pakhal tehsil and its adjoining locality of the district.
President Tobacco Farmers Association Mansehra Haji Rustam Khan along with other members visiting the affected areas told the media that nobody can control natural calamities as a heavy downpour followed by the hailstorm completely destroyed the standing tobacco crops on hundreds of hectors area in only Baffa region of Mansehra.
Rustam Khan said that tobacco is a cash crop that also provides millions of rupees for Central Excise Duty and other taxes to the national exchequers while this sector of agriculture also pays huge taxes to the province as Tobacco Development Cess (TDC).
He said during this critical time, the provincial government and Tobacco Board should announce a relief package for affected growers and should declare the Baffa-Pakhal tehsil a calamity-hit area.