• Proper location, good nursery bed, optimum manuring, adequate watering and timely control of pests and diseases are essential for getting good seedlings.
• The seeds are sown on raised beds (10-15 cm high beds having slopes on all the four sides)
• Nursery area should be very close to the water source. There should be ample drainage and protection from heavy wind. The area should be free from nematode infestation. Red sandy or sandy loam soils are preferred for tobacco nurseries.
• The raised bed may be of 2.5m length and 1.0 m width with channels of 45 cm width between the beds.
• The seeds are very small, therefore, they need very fine tilth. The beds must be free from stubbles, weeds and soil-borne diseases for which the nursery beds must be sterilized before sowing the seeds.

• Sterilization takes care of weed seeds, soil-borne diseases and eggs or young ones of insect-pests thus, it protects the young growing tender seedlings.
• Solarization
• The sterilization of beds may be done in the following two ways.

• Rabbing is the process of burning of trashes, weeds or any organic refuse on the soil surface.
• For rabbing 15-20 cm thick layer of leaves, weeds or paddy straw is uniformly spread over the soil surface and then it is burnt.
• The rabbing burns established weeds, stubbles, weed-seeds and kills the insect-pests found on the surface-soil besides improving physical properties of the soil.

• This treatment is done by applying fungicides and herbicides on the soil surface. The treatment is done after application of organic manure in soil.
• Formalin solution of 2.0 per cent (20g in 1 lit) concentration in water or formaldehyde takes care of damping off.
• Sometimes Bordeaux mixture, Chloropicrin, Dichloropropane, Methyl Bromide, Calcium Cyanamid etc. are also used as fumigants and or herbicides (calcium Cyanamid is used as herbicide).

• The beds should be about 1.20 meters wide (to get 1.0 m wide bed after tapering) and of convenient length, the optimum is 2.50 m.
• There should be 45 cm wide channel between the beds.
• The beds should be 15 cm higher than the side channel.
• August second fortnight to September end is the optimum time for taking sowing.
• Day temperature exceeding 35° C impairs the germination of seeds resulting in partial or complete failure of germination.
• Soaking the seeds in water at 11° C for about 10 days before sowing facilitates easy germination under adverse seasonal conditions.
• Another method to induce germination is to soak the seeds in water and keep it moist between wet gunnies. The seed coat starts splitting in 3-6 days and if the seeds are sown at this stage the germination will be satisfactory.
• After levelling the beds, 12.5 kg of well decomposed farm yard manure or compost / bed is to be uniformly spread and 80 gram of super phosphate / bed of 2.5 m2 is to be applied.
• Seeds should be sown evenly to avoid over crowding of seedlings which will prevent damping off.
• The optimum seed rate is 1.0 to 1.25 g/2.5m2 bed (3.0 kg per ha nursery)
• After sowing, the beds should be covered with coconut fibre or dried grass at 750 g / 2.5m2 to protect the germinating seeds from beating rain and scorching sun and to conserve moisture. The covering should be removed in a phased manner from 15th to 25th day of sowing.
• Watering the bed 5 to 8 times per day by rose cane, ensures uniform germination of the seeds. It is imperative that the seed beds are neither allowed to dry nor retain excess moisture.

• The seedlings must be thinned out 10 to 15 days after sowing in order to protect them from damping-off.
• Weeds must be taken out of the beds soon after their emergence.
• The thatch should be removed soon after the seeds have emerged and seedlings have two leaves.
• The surface of the beds must be broken and the soil be pulverized with a pointed bamboo peg at the stage when second pair of leaves develops in the plant. This helps better root development apart from gathering little soil around the growing plants, which are displaced by rain water.
• Transplanting age of seedlings is 7 to 9 weeks for tabacum and 5 to 6 weeks for rustica.
• Transplanting of smaller or younger seedlings causes higher percentage of gaps while aged or woody seedlings result in a poor growth of plants and thus both the types have a tendency to lower the yield of cured leaves.
• Irrigation of the beds should be stopped about 10 to 15 days before transplanting so that they may become hard and drought resistant and may resist the shock of displacement due to transplanting in main field.
• However, in the evening of the preceding day of pulling the seedlings, the beds must be watered copiously to facilitate the easy pulling of the seedlings without injury to the root system.
• At the end of the nursery period, the left over seedlings are pulled and the area is immediately ploughed.

Low lying area, use of high seed rate and excess watering are the favourable conditions for this disease.

• Preparation of raised seed beds with adequate drainage facilities.
• Use of recommended seeds rate (1.0 to 1.5 g/2.5m²)
• Regulating waterings to avoid excess dampness

• Pre-emergence damping off : Drenching the and seed bed with 1% Bordeaux mixture (10 g in 1 lit) or copper oxychloride 0.2% (2 g in 1 lit) 2 days before sowing.
• Post-emergence damping off : Drenching the 4% (40g in l lit) Bordeaux mixture or Copper oxychloride 0.2% (2g in 1 lit) or metalaxyl compounds 0.2% (2 g in 1 lit).
• Schedule of spray : Drenching of Bordeaux mixture or any other fungicide 2 weeks after sowing and subsequently at 4 days interval under dry weather and at 2 days interval under wet cloudy weather will save the seedling from damping off. It is to drench immediately after each rain.

Blackening of roots and stem at ground level.

• Rab the seed bed with paddy husk or groundnut shell at 15-20 cm thick layer before sowing.
• Drench seed bed area with 1% Bordeaux mixture / Copper oxychloride 0.2% (2g in 1 lit) Ziram 0.2% (2g in 1 lit) before sowing.
• Spraying of Copper oxychloride, Captofol at 0.2% (2 g in 1 lit) concentration.

Light and dark green mottlings on leaves.

Spraying of 1% (10 g in 1 lit) Bougainvillea or Basella alba leaf extract 2 to 3 times at weekly interval.

• This caterpillar feeds on leaves during night and hide during day time. Young caterpillars are light green with black head or black spots. Well grown caterpillars are grey or dark brown with a 'V' shaped white mark on the front portion of the black head.

• Deep ploughing of nursery area 2-3 times in summer.
• Grow castor as 'Ovipositional trap crop' around the nursery to attract moth for egg laying.
• Collect and destroy egg masses and tiny caterpillars on castor leaves
• Spray neem seed kernel extract (NSKE) 5% (5g in 100 ml) or Nuclear polyhedrosis virus at 250 LE/ha on 4 weeks old seedlings.

Cut holes on the leaves

• Keep the surrounding area clean
• Spray the surrounding vegetation with 30 ml of Endosulfan 35% EC in 22 ltrs. of water.

• Apply Acephate 75 SP at 250 g/ha as high volume application to check the Green Peech Aphid in tobacco. High volume application is safe to the adults of two coccinellid predators viz. Coccinella septumpunctata and Menochilus sexmaculata predaosous of this aphid.

• Red loam, sandy loam and Coarse gravelly loam soils are well suited for producing good quality leaves.
• The soil selected should be capable of retaining enough moisture to overcome dry periods.
• Deep soils (1 to 1.5m) with light gradient are preferable.

• The selected fields may be deep ploughed by tractor up to 30 cm to 38 cm depth in November on receipt of rain.
• This will help conversion of organic matter into humus and improve water holding capacity of the soil.
• Weed seeds, roots and soil pathogens are exposed to scorching sun during dry period of December to April. Farmyard manure at the rate of 5-10 tonnes per hectare may be applied and well mixed in the soil before last ploughing.
• Fields should be ploughed and flat ridges forms 1 metre apart during last week of April or early May with the onset of rain. North-South ridges are ideal.

• When the seedlings attain their required age, i.e. 45 days in the case of tabacum and 35-40 days in the case of rustica, they become fit for transplanting.
• The nursery beds should be given light irrigation before uprooting the seedlings from the beds, so that the roots are not damaged during their uprooting process.
• Healthy seedlings with intact roots are selected for transplanting and they should be transplanted soon after they are uprooted.
• Transplanting is done in rows, which are made by help of a rope. The finally prepared field should be given a light irrigation for quick establishment of seedlings.
• Generally seedlings of pencil thickness and of 10 to 15 cm height are preferred for transplanting. Short seedlings may establish well under optimum conditions in heavy soils. On the other hand longer seedlings are best suited for planting in light soils.
• The field should be levelled perfectly and thrown into beds and channels or ridges and furrows as the case may be. However, ridges and furrows method of planting was found to be better than flat beds.
• While planting, a shallow hole of 2.5 cm depth is made with finger at each intersecting point of lines drawn by a marker with desired spacing both ways after soil surface is completely levelled.
• One seedling is planted at each place and the soil is pressed all-round the seedling to provide a firm foot-hold for the plant.
• The optimum time of transplanting of tobacco is decided by the considerations of either avoiding periods of adverse weather or of taking advantage of periods of favourable weather conditions during critical stages of the crop.
• In Tamil Nadu, transplanting of tobacco from second week of October to third week of November is found to be ideal.
• Plant spacing of tobacco depends on the soil conditions and the type of tobacco grown.

• The field should be watered every 3-4 days so that the seedlings do not decicate in the sun.
• Gap filling should be done 8 – 10 days after transplanting by planting freshly uprooted seedlings.

• Starting about three weeks after transplanting of tobacco a number of intercultures are given to drive out moisture in the top soil and induce root growth in deeper layers.
• One or two interculturings are given a month after planting in both directions of the plant row.
• It is to break the hard crust and throw more soil at the base of the plant, so that a broad ridge is formed along the plant row.
• In case of soils with a higher silt content, the crust formation will be more pronounced and interculturing and ridging will be required at the optimum moisture conditions between any two irrigations. This promotes better aeration around the roots and keeps the field ready to get maximum benefit from the next irrigation.

• The crop may benefit by periodic interculture, which keeps the soil in a fit condition to absorb maximum precipitation.

• First hand weeding – three weeks after planting. At 45 days after planting, a soil mulch is created by spade digging and making the ridges flat. Subsequently ridges are reformed after a week creating deep furrows to facilitate heavy irrigation at grand growth period of the crop.

• Where the crop is grown during the rainy season, the first interculture is given as early as on 20th day and followed after each rain till the 45th day when a final ridging is given by working a couple of country ploughs followed by a ridger so as to earth up the soil on the planting row, leaving furrows in between to facilitate surface drainage.

• It is a normal practice to work a hand plough at weekly intervals followed by one or two weeding-cum-clod crushing operations.

• Mulching with black polythene sheet or paddy straw has been found quite beneficial
• In the cigar and chewing tobacco-growing areas of Tamil Nadu :
• A light hoeing is given with hand hoes three weeks after planting; two weeks later a deep digging is done around the plants with spades and the plants left to wilt for about 7 to 10 days
• Then the ridges are reformed bringing the plants to the middle of the ridge and giving copious irrigations
• During this period of mulching and moisture stress, the plants put out a lot of new roots and rate of growth is phenomenal after this period.

• Topping is the process of removal of flower heads either alone or with few upper leaves from the plants.
• Tobacco is an apically dominant plant. If terminal bud is removed, lateral buds develop into reproductive buds that produce flowers. When topping is done, the upper 3-4 suckers develop from axils. If these are removed secondary suckers develop.

• To improve the size, body, texture and quality of leaves.
• For full development of the top leaves
• Finally to increase the leaf yields
• The height of topping and number of leaves at which topping is done vary with type of tobacco.

• Increases root growth
• Increases water absorption and nutrient absorption
• Reduces top weight – does not lodge
• Reduces drain on certain organic and inorganic compounds used for growth
• Increases the weight and body of leaves
• Improves yield and quality
• Increases nicotine and desirable sugar content of cured leaf
• The yield increase is much greater for topping and suckering than for topping alone. Marked reduction in yield by 10 kg per day when topping was delayed beyond early flower stage.
• Leaves from early topping will be thicker, more oily and good bodied.

• total alkaloids were reduced
• Sugar content was lowered
• Total N affected
• Reduction in leaf size, length and width
• Low plant population always prefers high topping
• High plant population prefers low topping. Spacing, N level, time of topping and variety will decide the height of topping.
• Topping increases nicotine, leaf size, leaf thickness and body
• The yield was increased with high topping at all population levels and the price tend to be lowered with high topping.
• Topping leaving 10 leaves per plant besides 2 end leaves is good for higher yields in chewing tobacco in Tamil Nadu.

• It is observed that the energy and nutrients absorbed by the plants are diverted to the leaves rather than flower heads due to topping.
• Thus it helps in the full development of the top leaves or otherwise they will remain relatively shorter when the lower leaves mature.
• It increases the leaf size, thickness and dry weight of the leaves to the extent of 84, 24 and 48 per cent respectively. The effect of topping is more pronounced in younger leaves than older ones.

• Following topping the buds in the leaf axils otherwise dormant become active and put forth branches technically known as suckers.
• To get full benefit of topping, the suckers are to be removed periodically.
• The process of removal of suckers commences after 7 days of topping and 2-3 successive de-suckerings are necessary, otherwise the topping becomes non-effective.
• The manual de-suckering is a time consuming, laborious and more expensive process, therefore, use of chemicals may be practised.

• Application of coconut oil to the top six axils soon after topping suppresses the emergence of suckers in flue-cured Virginia tobacco.
• In case of Cheroot tobacco in Tamil Nadu, application of 2 per cent (20 g/lit) Naphthalene Acetic Acid in triethenolemin to the topped portion suppresses all the suckers.
• Use of 2 per cent (20 g/lit) of maleic hydrazide or Indole Butyric Acid is also recommended for an effective de-suckering.
• Petroleum jelly, when applied on buds, suppresses suckers.
• Application of neem oil emulsion at 35% immediately after topping completely suppresses the suckers (neem oil 1.75 litre + sandovit 0.5 litre + water 2.75 litre will be sufficient for 1000 plants).
• Piercing of the stem after topping with 20 to 25 cm long needle is found to be beneficial in improving yield and quality of tobacco leaves.