Editing Tobacco (section)

==Production==
{{More citations needed|date=May 2008}}

===Cultivation===
{{Main|Cultivation of tobacco}}
[[File:Patch of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum ) in a field in Intercourse, Pennsylvania..jpg|thumb|upright|Tobacco plants growing in a field in [[Intercourse, Pennsylvania|Intercourse]], [[Pennsylvania]]]]

Tobacco is cultivated similarly to other agricultural products. [[Seed]]s were at first quickly scattered onto the soil. However, young plants came under increasing attack from [[flea beetle]]s (''Epitrix cucumeris'' or ''E. pubescens''), which caused destruction of half the tobacco crops in United States in 1876. By 1890, successful experiments were conducted that placed the plant in a frame covered by thin cotton fabric. Modern tobacco seeds are sown in [[cold frame]]s or hotbeds, as their [[germination]] is activated by light.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garner |first1=W. W. |title=Tobacco Culture |journal=Farmers' Bulletin |date=February 27, 1914 |issue=571 |pages=3–4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_MX4JEAVPi4C&pg=RA21-PA1 |access-date=March 22, 2020 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}}</ref> In the United States, tobacco is often fertilized with the mineral [[apatite]], which partially starves the plant of [[Biological role of nitrogen|nitrogen]], to produce a more desired flavor.

After the plants are about {{convert| 8| inch|cm}}  tall, they are transplanted into the fields. Farmers used to have to wait for rainy weather to plant.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Yorktown |first1=Mailing Address: P. O. Box 210 |last2=Us |first2=VA 23690 Phone: 757 898-2410 Contact |title=Tobacco: Colonial Cultivation Methods - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/tobacco-colonial-cultivation-methods.htm |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> A hole is created in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, either a curved wooden tool or deer antler. After making two holes to the right and left, the planter would move forward two feet, select plants from his/her bag, and repeat. Various mechanical tobacco planters like Bemis, New Idea Setter, and New Holland [[Transplanter]] were invented in the late 19th and 20th centuries to automate the process: making the hole, watering it, guiding the plant in—all in one motion.<ref>{{cite book|last1=van Willigen|first1=John|last2=Eastwood|first2=Susan|title=Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4808-3|page=91|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIkfBgAAQBAJ|access-date=February 2, 2018}}</ref>

Tobacco is cultivated annually, and can be [[harvest]]ed in several ways. In the oldest method, still used, the entire plant is harvested at once by cutting off the stalk at the ground with a tobacco knife; it is then speared onto sticks, four to six plants a stick, and hung in a curing barn. In the 19th century, bright tobacco began to be harvested by pulling individual leaves off the stalk as they ripened. The leaves ripen from the ground upwards, so a field of tobacco harvested in this manner entails the serial harvest of a number of "primings", beginning with the ''volado'' leaves near the ground, working to the ''seco'' leaves in the middle of the plant, and finishing with the potent ''[[ligero]]'' leaves at the top. Before harvesting, the crop must be ''topped'' when the pink flowers develop. Topping always refers to the removal of the tobacco flower before the leaves are systematically harvested. As the industrial revolution took hold, the harvesting wagons which were used to transport leaves were equipped with man-powered stringers, an apparatus that used twine to attach leaves to a pole. In modern times, large fields are harvested mechanically, although topping the flower and in some cases the plucking of immature leaves is still done by hand.

In the U.S., [[North Carolina]] and [[Kentucky]] are the leaders in tobacco production, followed by [[Tennessee]], [[Virginia]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/|title=USDA/NASS QuickStats Ad-hoc Query Tool|website=quickstats.nass.usda.gov|date=2019|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>

===Curing===
{{Main|Curing of tobacco}}
[[File:Tobacco barn.JPG|thumb|Tobacco barn in [[Simsbury, Connecticut]] used for air curing of shade tobacco]]
[[File:Tobacco drying iran.jpg|thumb|Sun-cured tobacco, [[Bastam, West Azerbaijan|Bastam]], [[Iran]]]]

Curing and subsequent aging allow for the slow [[oxidation]] and degradation of [[carotenoid]]s in tobacco leaf. This produces certain compounds in the tobacco leaves and gives a sweet hay, [[tea]], [[rose oil]], or fruity aromatic flavor that contributes to the "smoothness" of the smoke. Starch is converted to sugar, which [[glycation|glycates]] protein, which is oxidized into [[advanced glycation endproduct]]s (AGEs), a [[caramelization]] process that also adds flavor. Inhalation of these AGEs in tobacco smoke contributes to [[atherosclerosis]] and [[cancer]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Cerami C, Founds H, Nicholl I, Mitsuhashi T, Giordano D, Vanpatten S, Lee A, Al-Abed Y, Vlassara H, Bucala R, Cerami A |title=Tobacco smoke is a source of toxic reactive glycation products|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=94|issue=25|year=1997|pages=13915–20|doi=10.1073/pnas.94.25.13915|pmid=9391127|pmc=28407|bibcode=1997PNAS...9413915C|doi-access=free}}</ref> Levels of AGEs are dependent on the curing method used.

Tobacco can be cured through several methods, including:
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Air|Air-cured]]''' tobacco is hung in well-ventilated barns and allowed to dry over a period of four to eight weeks. Air-cured tobacco is low in sugar, which gives the tobacco smoke a light, mild flavor, and high in nicotine. Cigar and burley tobaccos are 'dark' air-cured.<ref>"tobacco curing." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. September 26, 2012.</ref>
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Fire|Fire-cured]]''' tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smoulder, and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco. Fire curing produces a tobacco low in sugar and high in nicotine. Pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and snuff are fire-cured.
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Flue|Flue-cured]]''' tobacco was originally strung onto tobacco sticks, which were hung from tier poles in curing barns (Aus: [[kiln]]s, also traditionally called 'oasts'). These barns have flues run from externally fed fire boxes, heat-curing the tobacco without exposing it to smoke, slowly raising the temperature over the course of the curing. The process generally takes about a week. This method produces cigarette tobacco that is high in sugar and has medium to high levels of nicotine. Most cigarettes incorporate flue-cured tobacco, which produces a milder, more inhalable smoke. It is estimated that 1 tree is cut to flue-cure every 300 cigarettes, resulting in serious environmental consequences.<ref name="who env effects"/>
* '''[[Curing of tobacco#Sun|Sun-cured]]''' tobacco dries uncovered in the sun. This method is used in Turkey, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries to produce oriental tobacco. Sun-cured tobacco is low in sugar and nicotine and is used in cigarettes.

Some tobaccos go through a second stage of curing, known as ''[[Fermentation (food)|fermenting]]'' or ''sweating''.{{cn|date=July 2024}} [[Cavendish Tobacco|Cavendish]] undergoes fermentation pressed in a ''casing'' solution containing sugar and/or flavoring.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

===Global production===
[[File:Tobacco production, OWID.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Tobacco production, 2018<ref>{{cite web |title=Tobacco production |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/tobacco-production |website=Our World in Data |access-date=March 7, 2020}}</ref>]]

====Trends====
[[File:Preparando o tabaco em Balibó.jpg|thumb|Tobacco production in [[Portuguese Timor]] in the 1930s]]
Production of tobacco leaf increased by 40% between 1971, when 4.2&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced, and 1997, when 5.9&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced.<ref name="United Nations 2010">Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ''Projection of tobacco production, consumption and trade for the year 2010.'' (Rome, 2003).</ref> According to the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) of the United Nations, tobacco leaf production was expected to hit 7.1&nbsp;million tons by 2010. This number is a bit lower than the record-high production of 1992, when 7.5&nbsp;million tons of leaf were produced.<ref name="United Nations 2004">The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ''Higher World Tobacco use expected by 2010-growth rates slowing down.'' (Rome, 2004).</ref> The production growth was almost entirely due to increased productivity by developing nations, where production increased by 128%.<ref name="JhaChaloupka2000">{{cite book |editor1=Prabhat Jha |editor2=Frank J. Chaloupka |author1=Rowena Jacobs |display-authors=etal |title=Tobacco Control in Developing Countries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTO8AAAAIAAJ&q=supply-side |year=2000 |chapter=The Supply-Side Effects Of Tobacco Control Policies |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-263250-0 |pages=311ff}}</ref> During that same time, production in developed countries actually decreased.<ref name="United Nations 2004"/> China's increase in tobacco production was the single biggest factor in the increase in world production. China's share of the world market increased from 17% in 1971 to 47% in 1997.<ref name="United Nations 2010"/> This growth can be partially explained by the existence of a low import tariff on foreign tobacco entering China. While this tariff was reduced from 66% in 1999 to 10% in 2004,<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Hu |first1 = T-W |last2 = Mao |first2 = Z |display-authors=etal |year=2006 |title = China at the Crossroads: The Economics of Tobacco and Health |journal = Tobacco Control |volume = 15 |issue = Suppl 1 |pages = i37–i41 |doi=10.1136/tc.2005.014621 |pmc = 2563551 |pmid=16723674}}</ref> it has still led to local Chinese cigarettes being preferred over foreign cigarettes because of their lower cost.

====Major producers====
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em"
! colspan=3|Top tobacco producers, 2020<ref name="FAOSTAT">{{cite web|title=FAOSTAT|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC/visualize|publisher=Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref>
|-
! Country
! Production ([[tonne]]s)
! <small>Note</small>
|-
| {{flag|China}}||align=right|2,134,000||
|-
| {{flag|India}}||align=right|761,335||
|-
| {{flag|Brazil}}||align=right|702,208||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Zimbabwe}}||align=right|203,488||
|-
| {{flag|Indonesia}}||align=right|199,737||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|United States}}||align=right|176,635||
|-
| {{flag|Mozambique}}||align=right|158,532||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Pakistan}}||align=right|132,872||'''F'''
|-
| {{flag|Argentina}}||align=right|109,333||
|-
| {{flag|Malawi}}||align=right|93,613||'''F'''

|- style="background:#ccc;"
| {{noflag}}'''World'''||align=right| '''5,886,147'''||'''A'''
|-
|colspan=5 style="font-size:.7em"|No note = official figure, F = [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]] Estimate, A = Aggregate (may include official, semiofficial or estimates).
|}

Every year, about 5.9&nbsp;million tons of tobacco are produced throughout the world. The top producers of tobacco are China (36.3%), India (12.9%), Brazil (11.9%) and Zimbabwe (3.5%).<ref name="FAOSTAT"/>

====China====
Around the peak of global tobacco production, 20 million rural Chinese households were producing tobacco on 2.1&nbsp;million hectares of land.<ref name="issues in global economy"/> While it is the major crop for millions of Chinese farmers, growing tobacco is not as profitable as cotton or sugarcane, because the Chinese government sets the market price. While this price is guaranteed, it is lower than the natural market price, because of the lack of market risk. To further control tobacco in their borders, China founded a [[State Tobacco Monopoly Administration]] (STMA) in 1982. The STMA controls tobacco production, marketing, imports, and exports, and contributes 12% to the nation's national income.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.cn/english/2005-10/03/content_74295.htm |title=People's Republic of China. "''State Tobacco Monopoly Administration'' |publisher=Gov.cn |date=September 15, 2005 |access-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-date=August 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810034314/http://www.gov.cn/english/2005-10/03/content_74295.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> As noted above, despite the income generated for the state by profits from state-owned tobacco companies and the taxes paid by companies and retailers, China's government has acted to reduce tobacco use.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2010 |title=Talking Points, February 3–17, 2010 |url=https://china.usc.edu/talking-points-february-3-17-2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407203139/https://china.usc.edu/talking-points-february-3-17-2010 |archive-date=April 7, 2015 |publisher=[[University of Southern California|USC]] U.S.-China Institute}}</ref>

====India====
India's Tobacco Board is headquartered in [[Guntur]] in the state of [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tobaccoboard.com/ |title=Tobacco Board, Guntur |publisher=Tobaccoboard.com |access-date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> India has 96,865 registered tobacco farmers<ref name="Shoba 2002">Shoba, John and Shailesh Vaite. Tobacco and Poverty: Observations from India and Bangladesh. Canada, 2002.</ref> and many more who are not registered. In 2010, 3,120 tobacco product manufacturing facilities were operating in all of India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://india.anythingresearch.com/Tobacco-Product-Manufacturing.html|title=Tobacco Manufacturing in India}}</ref> Around 0.25% of India's cultivated land is used for tobacco production.<ref name="issues in global economy"/>

Since 1947, the [[Indian government]] has supported growth in the tobacco industry. India has seven tobacco research centers, located in [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Bihar]], [[Mysore]], and [[West Bengal]] which houses the core research institute.

====Brazil====
In Brazil, around 135,000 family farmers cite tobacco production as their main economic activity.<ref name="issues in global economy"/> Tobacco has never exceeded 0.7% of the country's total cultivated area.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book|last1=International Tobacco Growers' Association|title=Tobacco farming: sustainable alternatives? Volume 2|date=n.d.|publisher=ITGA|location=East Sussex|isbn=978-1-872854-02-1|url=http://www.tobaccoleaf.org/UserFiles/file/Why_Grow_Tobacco/tobacco_farming.pdf|access-date=July 5, 2016|archive-date=April 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429032528/http://tobaccoleaf.org/UserFiles/file/Why_Grow_Tobacco/tobacco_farming.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the southern regions of Brazil, Virginia, and Amarelinho, flue-cured tobacco, as well as burley and Galpão Comum air-cured tobacco, are produced. These types of tobacco are used for cigarettes. In the northeast, darker, air- and sun-cured tobacco is grown. These types of tobacco are used for cigars, twists, and dark cigarettes.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Brazil's government has made attempts to reduce the production of tobacco but has not had a successful systematic antitobacco farming initiative. Brazil's government, however, provides small loans for family farms, including those that grow tobacco, through the ''Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar''.<ref name="brazil legal employ">{{cite web |title=Report from South America (Brazil) |url=http://legalempowerment.undp.org/pdf/SouthAmerica_report.pdf |publisher=[[Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor]] |access-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609101410/http://legalempowerment.undp.org/pdf/SouthAmerica_report.pdf |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |date=2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Lebanon ====
Although only being the 35th biggest tobacco producer in 2023, the crop plays an important role in parts of [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 50 tobacco growing countries |url=https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-no-tobacco-day/2023/top-50-tobacco-growing-countries |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}</ref> The cultivation of tobacco in Lebanon dates back to the 17th century and today the crop is grown by all religious sects.<ref name=":1" /> In the southern parts of the country, the plant's resilience in difficult conditions - including the climate, the mountainous geography, and recurring wars - makes it an important source of income.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Khayyat |first=Munira |title=A Landscape of War |date=2022 |publisher=University of California Press |pages=92–125}}</ref> The role of tobacco in the region is twofold. On the one hand, it is called the "crop of resistance" as it allows the population to navigate the consequences of a decades-long violent conflict and a certain degree of detachment, making it a symbol of hope, resistance, and resilience.<ref name=":1" /> On the other hand, the hard conditions of tobacco farming also made it the "bitter crop," as the farming is often times done by women and children without professional equipment.<ref name=":1" /> According to Munira Khayyat, tobacco production in the southern parts of Lebanon, like many other sectors where the state is absent (e.g. health care, employment, education), is overseen by [[Hezbollah]] and, though to a minor degree, also by [[Amal Movement|AMAL]].<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Tobacco field cuba1.jpg|thumb|Tobacco plantation, [[Pinar del Río]], Cuba]]

===Problems in production===

====Child labor====
{{main|Child labor}}
The International Labour Office reported that the most child-laborers work in agriculture, which is one of the most hazardous types of work.<ref name="hrw child labor">{{Cite book |last1=Wurth |first1=Margaret |last2=Buchanan |first2=Jane |date=May 13, 2014 |editor-last=Becker |editor-first=Jo  |editor2-last=Ross |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=Olugboji |editor3-first=Babatunde |others=Joe Amon, Zama Coursen-Neff, Arvind Ganesan, Grace Meng |title=Tobacco's Hidden Children Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806091253/https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming |archive-date=August 6, 2015 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |isbn=978-1-62313-134-0 |oclc=881428758}}</ref> The tobacco industry houses some of these working children. Use of children is widespread on farms in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.unicef.org/media/84761/file/SOWC-1997.pdf |title=The State of the World's Children 1997 |last=[[UNICEF]] |date=1997 |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-262871-8 |oclc=36286998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609190750/https://www.unicef.org/media/84761/file/SOWC-1997.pdf |archive-date=June 9, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/78394/ChildLaborSweatandToil2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=By the Sweat and Toil of Children. Volume 2. The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports & Forced and Bonded Child Labor : A Report to the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Congress |last1=Jaffe |first1=Maureen E. |last2=Mills |first2=Monica |date=1995 |publisher=International Child Labor Study Group, [[Bureau of International Labor Affairs]], [[United States Department of Labor|Department of Labor]] |location=Washington, D.C. |last3=Rosen |first3=Sonia A. |last4=Shepard |first4=Robert B. |last5=Slavet |first5=Beth |last6=Samet |first6=Andrew J. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006221232/https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/78394/ChildLaborSweatandToil2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1997/97B09_232_engl.pdf |title=Bitter Harvest, Child Labour in Agriculture |date=1997 |publisher=[[International Labour Organization]] |location=Geneva |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006222138/http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1997/97B09_232_engl.pdf |archive-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite conference |last1=Bosch |first1=Dawie |last2=Gordon |first2=Adele |date=August 27–30, 1996 |title=Child Labour in Commercial Agriculture in Africa (Working paper number 3) |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/36763053 |publisher=[[International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour]], [[International Labour Organization]] |conference=Subregional technical workshop on child labour in commercial agriculture for selected English-speaking African countries |location=Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |isbn=978-92-2-110485-8 |oclc=36763053}}</ref> While some of these children work with their families on small, family-owned farms, others work on large plantations.
In late 2009, reports were released by the London-based human-rights group [[Plan International]], claiming that child labor was common on Malawi (producer of 1.8% of the world's tobacco<ref name="United Nations 2010"/>) tobacco farms. The organization interviewed 44 teens, who worked full-time on farms during the 2007–08 growing season. The child-laborers complained of low pay and long hours, as well as physical and sexual abuse by their supervisors.<ref name="malawi child">{{Cite web |last=Clacherty |first=Glynis |date=2009 |title=Hard work, long hours and little pay: Research with children working on tobacco farms in Malawi |url=https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/3809.pdf/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006212811/https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/pdf/3809.pdf/ |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |publisher=[[Plan International]], Clacherty & Associates Education and Social Development (Pty) Ltd}}</ref> They also reported experiencing [[green tobacco sickness]], a form of nicotine poisoning. When wet leaves are handled, nicotine from the leaves gets absorbed in the skin and causes nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Children were exposed to levels of nicotine equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes, just through direct contact with tobacco leaves.<ref name="malawi child"/> The [[effects of nicotine on human brain development]] in children can permanently alter brain structure and function.<ref name=England2015>{{cite journal |last1=England |first1=Lucinda J. |last2=Bunnell |first2=Rebecca E. |last3=Pechacek |first3=Terry F. |last4=Tong |first4=Van T. |last5=McAfee |first5=Tim A. |title=Nicotine and the Developing Human |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine |date=August 2015 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=286–293 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2015.01.015 |pmc=4594223 |pmid=25794473 }}</ref>

====Economy====
[[File:MRO Cuba Harvest 01.jpg|thumb|Tobacco harvesting, [[Viñales Valley]], Cuba]]
Major tobacco companies have encouraged global tobacco production. [[Altria Group|Philip Morris]], [[British American Tobacco]], and [[Japan Tobacco]] each own or lease tobacco-manufacturing facilities in at least 50 countries and buy crude tobacco leaf from at least 12 more countries.<ref>"International Cigarette Manufacturers," Tobacco Reporter, March 2001</ref> This encouragement, along with government subsidies, has led to a glut in the tobacco market. This surplus has resulted in lower prices, which are devastating to small-scale tobacco farmers. According to the World Bank, between 1985 and 2000, the inflation-adjusted price of tobacco dropped 37%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Leaf, Barren Harvest: The Costs of Tobacco Farming |url=http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_330.pdf |author=The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids |date=November 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406112907/http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_330.pdf |archive-date=April 6, 2013}}</ref> Tobacco is the most widely [[smuggling|smuggled]] legal product.<ref name=ICLJTU>{{cite news |title=Tobacco Underground |url=http://www.icij.org/project/tobacco-underground |access-date=November 26, 2012 |newspaper=The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists}}</ref>

====Environment====
Tobacco production requires the use of large amounts of [[pesticide]]s. Tobacco companies recommend up to 16 separate applications of pesticides just in the period between planting the seeds in greenhouses and transplanting the young plants to the field.<ref name="Taylor, Peter 1994">{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Peter|title=Smoke Ring: The Politics of Tobacco|publisher=Panos Briefing Paper|location=London|date=September 1994}}</ref> Pesticide use has been worsened by the desire to produce larger crops in less time because of the decreasing market value of tobacco. Pesticides often harm tobacco farmers because they are unaware of the health effects and the proper safety protocol for working with pesticides. These pesticides, as well as fertilizers, end up in the soil, waterways, and the food chain.<ref>{{cite book|title=FAO Yearbook, Production, Volume 48|year=1995}}</ref> Coupled with child labor, pesticides pose an even greater threat. Early exposure to pesticides may increase a child's lifelong cancer risk, as well as harm their nervous and immune systems.<ref>{{Cite book |last=National Research Council (US) Committee on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236276/ |title=Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children |date=1993 |publisher=[[National Academies Press]] |isbn=978-0-309-04875-0 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=341 |chapter=Chapter 8 Estimating the Risks |doi=10.17226/2126 |pmid=25144038 |oclc=42329648}}</ref>

As with all crops, tobacco crops extract nutrients (such as [[phosphorus]], [[nitrogen]], and [[potassium]]) from soil, decreasing its fertility.<ref name=wwf.panda>{{cite web|title=Tobacco Free Initiative: Environmental issues|url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/research/economics/rationale/environment/en/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041219191401/http://www.who.int/tobacco/research/economics/rationale/environment/en/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 19, 2004|author=World Health Organization}}</ref>

Furthermore, the wood used to cure tobacco in some places leads to deforestation. While some big tobacco producers such as China and the United States have access to petroleum, coal, and natural gas, which can be used as alternatives to wood, most developing countries still rely on wood in the curing process.<ref name="wwf.panda"/> Brazil alone uses the wood of 60 million trees per year for curing, packaging, and rolling cigarettes.<ref name="Taylor, Peter 1994"/>

In 2017 WHO released a study on the environmental effects of tobacco.<ref name="who env effects">{{Cite book |last=World Health Organization |url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/environmental-impact-overview/en/ |title=Tobacco and its Environmental Impact: An Overview |date=2017 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-151249-7 |oclc=988541317 |author-link=World Health Organization |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531164632/http://www.who.int/tobacco/publications/environmental-impact-overview/en/ |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Research===
Several tobacco plants have been used as [[model organism]]s in [[genetics]]. [[Tobacco BY-2 cells]], derived from ''N. tabacum'' [[cultivar]] 'Bright Yellow-2', are among the most important research tools in plant [[cell biology|cytology]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Ganapathi TR |display-authors=etal | year = 2004 | title = Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) – A model system for tissue culture interventions and genetic engineering | url = http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/7722/1/IJBT%203(2)%20171-184.pdf | journal = Indian Journal of Biotechnology | volume = 3 | pages = 171–184 }}</ref> Tobacco has played a pioneering role in [[Callus (cell biology)|callus]] culture research and the elucidation of the mechanism by which [[kinetin]] works, laying the groundwork for modern agricultural [[biotechnology]]. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1982, using ''[[Agrobacterium tumefaciens]]'' to create an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.<ref name="PNAS">{{cite journal | author = Fraley RT |display-authors=etal | year = 1983 | title = Expression of bacterial genes in plant cells | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 80 | issue = 15| pages = 4803–4807 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.80.15.4803 |pmid=6308651 | bibcode=1983PNAS...80.4803F| pmc = 384133 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This research laid the groundwork for all [[genetically modified crops]].<ref name=TransgenicScience>{{cite web |url=http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/communities/Cotton_Info/The_Science_behind_Transgenic_cotton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321224120/http://www.cottoncrc.org.au/communities/Cotton_Info/The_Science_behind_Transgenic_cotton |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |title=Science of Transgenic Cotton |publisher=Cottoncrc.org.au |access-date=October 3, 2013 }}</ref>

===Genetic modification===
Because of its importance as a research tool, transgenic tobacco was the first genetically modified (GM) crop to be tested in field trials, in the United States and France in 1986; China became the first country in the world to approve commercial planting of a GM crop in 1993, which was tobacco.<ref name="James 1996">{{cite web|last=James|first=Clive|title=Global Review of the Field Testing and Commercialization of Transgenic Plants: 1986 to 1995|url=http://www.isaaa.org/kc/Publications/pdfs/isaaabriefs/Briefs%201.pdf|publisher=The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications|access-date=July 17, 2010|year=1996}}</ref>

====Field trials====
Many varieties of transgenic tobacco have been intensively tested in field trials. Agronomic traits such as resistance to pathogens (viruses, particularly to the [[tobacco mosaic virus]] (TMV); fungi; bacteria and nematodes); weed management via herbicide tolerance; resistance against insect pests; resistance to drought and cold; and production of useful products such as pharmaceuticals; and use of GM plants for [[bioremediation]], have all been tested in over 400 field trials using tobacco.<ref name=GMOCompass>{{cite web |url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/304.tobacco.html |title=Tobacco |publisher=GMO Compass |access-date=October 3, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002090217/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/304.tobacco.html |archive-date=October 2, 2013}}</ref>

====Production====
Currently, only the US is producing GM tobacco.<ref name="James 1996" /><ref name=GMOCompass /> The Chinese virus-resistant tobacco was withdrawn from the market in China in 1997.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Conner AJ, Glare TR, Nap JP |date=January 2003 |title=The release of genetically modified crops into the environment. Part II. Overview of ecological risk assessment |journal=Plant J. |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=19–46 |pmid=12943539 |doi=10.1046/j.0960-7412.2002.001607.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|3}} From 2002 to 2010, cigarettes made with GM tobacco with reduced nicotine content were available in the US under the market name Quest.<ref name=GMOCompass /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2017/08/14/if-you-took-the-nicotine-out-of-cigarettes-would-fewer-people-want-to-smoke/|title=If You Took The Nicotine Out Of Cigarettes, Would Fewer People Want To Smoke?|last=Rubin|first=Rita|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=May 3, 2019}}</ref>