Tobacco is an important commercial crop cultivated in an area of 0.4 million ha producing annually around 700 million kg of cured leaf out of which 260 M kg is Flue-Cured Virginia tobacco (cigarette type). India is the 3rd largest producer of tobacco in the world after China and Brazil. Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV), Bidi, Hookah and Chewing, Cigar filler, Cigar Wrapper, Cheroot, Burley, Oriental, HDBRG, Lanka etc., are the different types of tobacco grown in the country. India ranks 5th largest exporter of tobacco in the world after Brazil, USA, Malawi and Turkey.
Gutka is the refined tobacco with catechu, chuna, flavouring agents and perfumery compounds etc. It is now-a-days a very common mouth freshener. Zarda is a mixture of tobacco, lime, spices, and occasionally, silver flakes is also added to pan and chewed. Khaini is not only the cured leaves of tobacco in granular form but it contains toxic, hovouring and soothing antiseptic ingredients which makes the man fresh and free from sullenness laziness.
The tobacco industry is one of the most profitable industries in the world.
All types of chewing tobacco is used as chewing material by the people which generates some sensation and makes the people fresh and recovering from tiresome. Due to its intoxicant constituent nicotine it serves the purpose of germicide for teeth and so people use it for saving their teeth from various dental diseases.
India Tobacco market is expected to reach USD 35 billion by FY’ 2018. Chewing tobacco has been a tradition in India for centuries. Of the total amount of tobacco produced in the country, around 48% is in the form of chewing tobacco, 38% as bidis, and only 14% as cigarettes. Thus, bidis, snuff and chewing tobacco (such as gutka, khaini and zarda) form the bulk (86%) of India’s total tobacco production. In the rest of the world, production of cigarettes is 90% of total production of tobacco related products. The developing countries are expected to further increase their share in world tobacco production, according to the report. Any entrepreneur venture into this field will be successful.