Developing new products from tobacco

I understand the urge to keep planting our traditional crops—especially those with deep roots in our history and culture. But what if demand is falling? What if the farmers who grow these crops are slipping deeper into poverty because the prices that they once relied on are no longer there? And what if the product itself is increasingly viewed as harmful to public health, with fewer acceptable uses each year? That, sadly, is the problem facing the tobacco industry.

Is the market for cigarettes and cigars really shrinking? Government should be able to measure that with precision. A simple dashboard would do that: excise-tax–paid removals from BIR (a proxy for sales), PSA data on area planted and farmgate prices, NTA’s leaf procurement and farmer counts, DOH smoking prevalence, and DTI export/import figures for leaf and finished products. If those lines are trending down together, the signal is clear.

If government confirms the problem, we need a two-track response. First, find new uses for tobacco. Second, help farmers pivot to alternative crops that can thrive on the same soils—cotton, coffee, and cacao among the prime candidates. The key is to move with purpose, not panic, and to make sure no farmer—especially in the Ilocos Region—is left high and dry.

On new uses: tobacco dust is an overlooked winner. In Pangasinan, bangus growers have long used it after every harvest—spreading 25 to 30 kilos per hectare on sun-dried ponds. The dust pulls double duty: it knocks out snails and other pests that compete with fingerlings, and it fertilizes the pond bottom so “lablab,” that thin green mat of natural fish feed, can flourish. After 7–10 days, when the pond bottom turns green, farmers refill to about a meter and stock fingerlings that feed on lablab for a month or two before any commercial feed is needed. When dust runs short, some use commercial fertilizers—but chicken manure is generally avoided due to contamination risks flagged by BFAR.

Is tobacco dust safe? Its active nicotine dissipates quickly under sun and water—breaking down within minutes and transforming into harmless compounds like nicotinic acid (vitamin B3). Used correctly, there’s no contamination of the fish. It even works best in dry ponds under the midday sun when the aroma releases and predators die off fast.

What is tobacco dust made of? Mostly leaf fragments—lamina, ribs, stems—plus naturally occurring nicotine, minerals like nitrogen and potassium, and organic compounds that help soil. It can be applied as powder, brewed as a “tea” for integrated pest management, or, in some cases, used as fumigant. Unlike some manures, it doesn’t introduce weed seeds or heavy metals.

Is there a world market? There’s no formal commodity exchange for tobacco dust, but there is a niche, growing demand in agriculture, aquaculture, and even industrial filtration. Trade is localized and often bundled with processing contracts. That said, let’s be honest: this market will not replace the cigarette business in scale. Cigarettes remain a colossal global market; tobacco dust and other non-smoking applications are tiny by comparison. But impact is not only about market size. If tobacco dust lowers costs for fish and vegetable farmers, reduces chemical inputs, and creates a circular economy for a byproduct we used to waste, that’s real value.

So how do we turn this into a livelihood strategy? Three steps. First, standards: DA/NTA/BFAR should issue clear handling and application protocols (dosage, PPE, timing), plus quality grades for dust. Second, supply chains: form farmer and fisherfolk co-ops to aggregate dust, package it, and supply barangay-level aquaculture kits. Third, public procurement: LGUs and BFAR can include tobacco-dust kits in support to fishponds and community gardens.

Now to the second track: alternatives on the same soils. Cotton is viable but water-hungry; it needs drip irrigation, pest management, and guaranteed offtake (uniforms, hospital linens, eco-textiles). Coffee and cacao offer steadier demand, shade-grown potential, and local value-adding. A practical path is rotation and intercropping: short-term cash (vegetables, peanuts, mung bean) while coffee or cacao establish; soil remediation after tobacco; and cooperative processing (ginning for cotton, fermentation/drying for cacao, community roasting for coffee).

My suggestion: launch a five-year “Tobacco Transition Compact” in Ilocos and nearby provinces—funded by sin tax shares and development partners—covering (1) income protection during transition, (2) training and inputs, (3) small processing facilities, (4) market contracts with private buyers and government procurement, and (5) a dedicated line for tobacco-dust enterprises.

We honor tradition best by securing the farmer’s future. If the old market is shrinking, we must design a broader farm economy—one that transforms byproducts into inputs, swaps monocrops for mixed livelihoods, and replaces anxiety with agency. Tobacco gave us decades of income. Now let it give us a platform for new products—and a bridge to better crops.