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The France-Tabac Group
Key figures
The history of tobacco
Botany / Varieties
Tobacco Growing
The processing plant
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Puce  I. Employment

  • 3,100 tobacco growers throughout France.
  • 3,000 agricultural ventures of common interest.
  • 30,000 seasonal workers, employed sometimes for up to six months per year in over 60 departements.
  • Several hundred jobs in professional tobacco organizations.

Puce  II. Growers

  • Average surface area of land given over to tobacco: 1 to 2 ha (2½ to 5 acres).
  • Share of tobacco in farm income: 40 to 75 %

Puce  III. Tobacco production

  • France is the 5th leading European producer.
  • 18,000 acres of plantations.
  • 19,000 tonnes of production per year, with 98 % of light air- & flue-cured varieties and 2 % dark air-cured tobacco, exported to 20 countries.
  • 800 to 1,000 working hours per hectare depending on varieties.

Puce  IV. Tobacco Sector

  • 7 cooperatives grouped together as a Union collect tobacco from the growers and ensure quality in the tobacco production by technical expertise.
  • A processing plant in Sarlat (Dordogne), with two threshing lines (annual capacity : 20,000 tonnes), and up to 170 employees.
  • A research, experimentation and training structure (ANITTA) based in Bergerac with an additional 6 regional sites.

Tobacco harvesting

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