Nelson fancies going up in cigar smoke

Nelson is looking at ways of reviving its tobacco industry.

The "prosperity committee" of the Nelson City Council says it will give $10,000 toward investigating better uses of agricultural land in the region.

One of the possibilities to be canvassed includes reviving Motueka's tobacco industry to grow leaves for cigars.

The number of New Zealand tobacco-growers peaked at 763 between 1960 and 1964 but by 1986 had fallen to 125.

Many more growers were forced out of the industry when W.D. & H.O. Wills (NZ) closed its Motueka tobacco manufacturing plant in 1989 with little warning.

When the defunct Tobacco Growers' Federation divided up its assets in 1996, after Rothmans stopped buying New Zealand tobacco, there were only 61 growers left.

But tobacco production has never died out completely. Customs and excise agents have raided at least three farms around Motueka and seized equipment used for making tobacco.

At one stage it was estimated the Government was missing out on $6 million in tax through the sale of tobacco grown without licensing.

Black-market tobacco typically sells for up to $200 a kilogram against $460 for commercial roll-your-own tobacco. Excise is about $240/kg.

Dealing in black-market tobacco - grown other than for personal use - carries the risk of a six-month jail sentence and a fine of up to $10,000 or three times the value of the illegal goods.

A report commissioned by the council and Tasman District Council and written by horticultural consultant Jeremy Cooper proposes the return of a legal industry, targeted to the cigar market, which has soared in affluent nations over the past decade.

Other suggestions in the just-released report include new fruit and berry crops, medicinal plant and fungi crops, and fish farms.

But more research would be need to see how viable such ventures were, it says.

The Tasman council and local community employment group will also be asked to contribute to the $20,000 cost of setting up a project based on the successful Crops for Southland project.

Mr Cooper says Southland's horticultural industry is predicted to earn more export dollars within 10 years than Nelson's industry presently earns.

A steering committee will set up the new Nelson body, and a part-time worker will create a database and apply for further funding from the Government and other agencies.

The report estimates that it will cost $350,000 to build the database and investigate the marketing potential of new crops, and another $350,000 for trial plantings and education programmes.

- NZPA