TIMB orders growers to uproot tobacco stalks fully

Leftover tobacco stalks are basically pest hotels if farmers do not rip them out properly after harvest, according to TIMB.

TIMB wants stalks fully uprooted

• The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board issued the advisory recently.
• Growers need to destroy stalks right after reaping.
• Uprooting the entire plant, roots and all, is the recommended method.
• Simply cutting or slashing stalks is not enough.

Regrowth creates bigger problems

• Leftover stumps will sprout new shoots if roots remain.
• That regrowth becomes a breeding ground for pests and diseases.
• Soil nutrients get drained by unwanted shoot growth.
• Carryover contamination threatens the next production season entirely.