Tobacco Asia

64 tobaccoasia Issue 4, 2025 July / August Indonesia: traditional fuels remain "deeply entrenched" Meanwhile, the world's fourth largest producer country, Indonesia, primarily makes use of traditional fuels such as coconut and candlenut shells or dried corn cobs in its flue- curing ovens. "Gas curing remains a relatively uncommon practice among to- bacco farmers. The vast majority of them, particularly in rural production zones, con- tinue relying on traditional fuel sources," Mohammad Suheri Hidayat, leaf production manager at leading exporter PT. Mangli Djaya Raya, told Tobacco Asia. "These fuels are deeply entrenched in local agricultural practices, largely due to their accessibility and low direct cost," he added. Indonesia's very limited adoption of gas curing can be attributed to two primary constraints; and neither comes as a big surprise. The high purchasing cost of LPG simply makes the option economically unviable for smallholder farmers. Secondly, the technical and logistical challenges to set up and operate a gas curing system are significant. "The gas curing process demands close round-the-clock supervision to manage the gas cylin- ders, particularly at night," explained Suheri. Furthermore, water vapor condensation in a country with extremely high air humidity can cause gas cylinders to freeze, resulting in flame instability that can compromise curing consistency and product quality. "In my opinion, it is safe to estimate that nearly 100% of tobacco growers across Indonesia rely on conventional biomass fuels, for instance coconut shells, candlenut shells, and corn- cobs," reiterated Suheri, but added that he wasn't sure if larger private firms or some of the multinational tobacco companies might use gas curing here and there. India: wood and coffee husks That leaves the world's second largest tobacco producer, India, where a majority of flue-cured tobacco producers depend on agricultural waste such as dried coffee bean husks wood collected from fallow land plots or abandoned, non-productive fruit or- chards, as well as commercial forests, either owned by the farmers themselves or es- tablished by third-party suppliers. However, gas curing is presently the subject of an intensive research initiative. Trials to leverage solar energy and LPG-based tobacco curing are in progress with few modifications required to existing curing barns. However, in a country where the bulk of tobacco producers are impoverished smallholder farmers, gas curing will very likely not make notable inroads anytime soon. "The initial investment for converting barns to accommodate gas curing is simply too high," pointed out P. Venkata Ram Reddy, head of industry affairs at ITC, one of the country's largest merchants. But even if a farmer were able to cough up those funds, it wouldn't be the end of it. Purchasing LPG on a continual basis is a burden too heavy to shoulder for many, and when traditional fuels are plentiful and cheap. However, Reddy said he would wish for the government to subsidize cleaner curing systems such as LPG and other gas fuels, encourage partnerships between the private and public sectors, strengthen research initiatives, introduce carbon credit mechanisms, as well as develop region-specific barn models and functional fuel supply chains. Back to Zimbabwe: trials and tribulations Shifting our focus back on Zimbabwe, local website agriculture.co.zw in April 2024 highlighted in an article the advantages that switching to gas curing could bring for the southern African nation, which according to TIMB currently has more than 134,000 tobacco farmers. The article cited information obtained from Kutsaga. Compared to conventional flue curing, setting up a gas curing system costs ap- proximately 40% less than a flue curing system, the article claimed. Gas curing also saved on operating and labor costs. According to the article, a conventional flue curing system requires approximately $9,000 per hectare compared to "only" $6,200 per hect- are for gas curing. Heat and humidity distribution also was more even with gas curing, resulting in improved quality with a uniform cure across the barn. In addition, energy efficiency would increase, with 0.48-0.64 kg of gas required to cure 1 kg of tobacco when compared to a coal fired system, which burns 1.2kg of coal per 1 kg of tobacco. At the same time, the use of gas would bring about a substantial reduction in carbon emissions, which are 0.96 kg CO2 per 1 kg of gas dried tobacco versus 2.69 kg CO2 for coal cured leaf. Source: https://agriculture.co.zw/2024/04/19/energy-efficient-tobacco-curing-barn-launched-at-kutsaga/ Flue curing oven in Indonesia. Credit: PT. Mangli Djaya Raya Rotary flue curing in Indonesia. Credit: PT. Mangli Djaya Raya Mohammad Suheri Hidayat, leaf production manager, Mangli Djaya Raya. Credit: PT. Mangli Djaya Raya

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