We went out looking for land to purchase and stumbled on an area, right off the beaten track - I was amazed at the amount of tobacco being farmed. We stopped at one small plot and quizzed an old boy, he got 3x harvests a year, he wasn't letting on about money, but he said it was good. That someone came and picked up his crop.

 

Some of the plots seemed to be industrial in their production, with gangs of guys tending and watering the crop, other plots were small, one man operations.

 

Does anyone else have any tobacco? Is it profitable?

No, not profitable because you have to sell to the local agent (or they burn your farm down with you in it).

Here's one of my rellys operating the shredder, next it's left out in the sun to dry a bit more, turned a few times, then put in a bin bag and left at the door for collection.

They pay when they take it.

 

 

 

I'm waiting for cannabis, that might not be profitable either, but it'll be fun.

41 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No, not profitable because you have to sell to the local agent (or they burn your farm down with you in it).

Here's one of my rellys operating the shredder, next it's left out in the sun to dry a bit more, turned a few times, then put in a bin bag and left at the door for collection.

They pay when they take it.

 

 

 

I'm waiting for cannabis, that might not be profitable either, but it'll be fun.

That surprises me - the guy we spoke to nodded his head with great enthusiasm when we stopped to ask. 
 

Why do local produce it? 
 

Locals were growing it in their gardens and other operations were quite big - I understand that there is a local agent involved, that’s why I thought it might be fun to grow a patch, if there is shredding and processing involved, I will think again.  

5 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Locals were growing it in their gardens and other operations were quite big - I understand that there is a local agent involved, that’s why I thought it might be fun to grow a patch, if there is shredding and processing involved, I will think again.  

You had to pick the ripe leaves (quite labour intensive and one or two leaves off each plant).

Strip out the backbones, roll up and leave to dry for 3 days.

Shred onto mats, that you leave in the sun, then turn for 3 days.

Put into plastic bags for collection outside your house.

 

 

It seems a bit risky as you have only one buyer - Thailand Tobacco Monopoly respectively their middle man. 

They decide the price and amount they take. Unless you have a proper contract with binding conditions probably better to grow a crop that you can sell in the regular market 

what does it sell for in your local markets?

in the nearest largish maket town to us there is area where people sell the tobacco, good few stalls, its very cheap to buy...