The Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs said it has intensified its “promising” trials on two new tobacco varieties it plans to adopt — Virginia and Burley “as part of its efforts to promote sustainable agriculture and diversify Lebanese crops in the medium and long term, in line with global market demands for different tobacco varieties.”
Under the patronage and in the presence of its chairman and general manager, Eng. Nassif Seklaoui, the Regie held a seminar highlighting its efforts to promote sustainable agriculture and diversify the tobacco varieties cultivated in the Bekaa and Northern Lebanon. During the event, agricultural engineer Dr. Mohammad Kabbara gave a presentation on the cultivation of Virginia and Burley as alternative varieties to those currently planted in the two regions.
In addition to Seklaoui, the event was attended by Board Members Eng. Georges Hobeika, Dr. Issam Salman, and Dr. Mazen Abboud; Government Commissioner to the Regie Mirna Baz; Financial Auditor Carol Youssef; Head of Agriculture Directorate Jaafar al-Husseini; senior staff members; and the majority of the Regie’s agricultural engineers.
Dr. Kabbara gave a detailed presentation on the modern agricultural trials adopted in this field, which the Regie plans to implement in the coming stage to enhance production and improve quality.
He clarified that “the shift in market preferences from smoking traditional tunbac hookah to flavored molasses (mu’assal) hookah, which is made from Virginia tobacco, has rendered tunbac cultivation economically unviable, even though it continues to serve its developmental purpose of supporting farmers and helping them remain on their land to limit rural-urban migration.”
“There is a need to cultivate a watered tobacco variety as an alternative to tunbac,” he said, adding that this variety “yields much more than the traditional crop on the same area of land.”
“The yield from this variety can be used in the production of cigarettes or mu’assal,” he explained.
He also stressed the need to “develop tobacco cultivation in Lebanon while maintaining the principles of sustainable agriculture and avoiding the shift to unstable new varieties.” He further underlined the importance of “encouraging the cultivation of pre-sold alternative, high-yield crops to replace illegal ones (such as cannabis), particularly in the Bekaa region.”
Dr. Kabbara stated that, from this standpoint, “the Regie is expanding this year the trial cultivation of these two varieties in the Bekaa and Northern Lebanon, following several promising yet very limited attempts.”
He explained that Virginia tobacco is classified as “light tobacco” due to its “golden-yellow to dark-orange color acquired during curing.” He noted that it is “grown exclusively on irrigated land and is widely used in the production of cigarettes and mu’assal,” adding that “it is cured with high heat inside heated barns for a period ranging from four to seven days and is characterized by its light and clean flavor.” The main countries cultivating this variety include Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Tanzania, and the United States.
As for Burley tobacco, Dr. Kabbara described it as having “a strong, earthy flavor with nutty notes and a dark color resulting from air- and flue-curing.
He added that its texture is light and that it is “used in cigarette blends to add flavor and strength.”
Burley is cultivated in various irrigated regions around the world, including the United States and Italy, and is “air-cured, which makes it lighter and smoother than other tobacco varieties.”