MORE NEWS, LA UNION

Tobacco farming in LU town -- a labor of love
By Glo A. Tuazon

NAGUILLAN, La Union -- An hour ride from Baguio City would take you to an arid land, the exposed ground simmering hot under the devastating summer sun.
All along the fields near the dirt road from Barangay Guesset are acres of tobacco plants and they stretch all the way to Barangay Ambaracao Norte. Naguillan may be considered a first class municipality but life is still hard for most of those living and dependent on farming alone.

Along with the usual rice and corn crops, sugarcane and tobacco come next on their list.

Tobacco planting is labor-intensive. It requires the hard work of occasional weeding, bending over most of the time that it taxes the waist and back.

The farmers have to tend to it to ensure that the quality stays good. That would mean the plants have to be in their best, healthy and the flavor is intact. Tobaccos are classified accordingly depending on these factors, the size and thickness of the leaves, the leaf colors and the way they were processed or cured, that is either sun-dried, air-dried or fire-cured.

That is not to say all tobaccos are the same even if they are processed the same because they are not. They vary considerably.

Tobaccos grown in this area along with those in the Ilocos regions are the Virginia Tobacco, the burley tobaccos and the native tobacco. Virginia tobacco making up a large percentage of the bulk, followed by burley and last is the native tobaccos.

Whatever kind of tobacco, it still needs the constant care of the farmers to be able to pass the standards by which they are sold and bought.

These farmers along the river strip work day in day out hoping for better days to come. For now they are still hopeful the prices of their crops would eventually increase. They have lobbied together with other union members from the Ilocos province for the relief of this problem, yet they are still in the muck.

They still complain of under pricing and massive price manipulation, that only the tycoons are benefiting from the whole process. They work most of the season until harvest time but they almost only get the capital money back.

The "rejects," (crops that does not pass quality testing standards) are priced even much lower. These last years tobacco production has gone up but farmers are still down low because they feel they are not justly paid for the worth of their crops.

Life as a tobacco farmer is not easy, commented one villager. They have to endure the sun bent low every day, and when harvest comes, they again endure the sticky, stinging sap of the plant. It goes on to stain their clothes and their hands and fingers, and it would be days before it fades away. Sometimes the sap gets into their hair and is difficult to remove.

The eyes would sting too, as tobaccos when picked fresh have a tendency to emit strong fumes. In any case these bodily harms are the least of their problems. The greatest is, would there be enough gain to see the whole family through another season?