From a 17th-century introduction to a modern regulated agricultural and export ecosystem.
ICAR-NIRCA records tobacco cultivation in India from the early 17th century, with Portuguese introduction traditionally dated to 1605. Cultivation and research expanded across regions over the following centuries.
Tobacco cultivation is recorded as having been introduced by the Portuguese, initially in Gujarat.
Efforts to improve Indian tobacco included work at the Calcutta Botanical Gardens.
A model farm was established at Pusa, Bihar for growing and curing tobacco and trials continued in later decades.
ICAR-NIRCA records the first successful flue curing in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
The Central Tobacco Research Institute was established under the Indian Central Tobacco Committee.
The Tobacco Board Act was enacted in 1975 and the Board came into existence on 1 January 1976.