2. THE LEAF OF CAMPANIA
Campania is one of the regions where tobacco processing is
most practiced in the more than three quarters of a century
taken into consideration. At a central moment in this long
period, around 1903, three of the country's 18 state-owned
factories are located on its territory. With these numbers,
Campania ranks in one of the very first places behind the
leading region which is Tuscany, the only other area in the
country that has three factories. The cultivation of the leaf is
also very important: some areas of Campania are among the
first in Italy, as hectares used and as production.
3. THE PREUNITY SITUATION
01
THE FIRST POSTUNE DECADES
02
THE YEARS BEFORE THE GREAT WAR
03
THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE TWO
WARS
04
THE LAST YEARS
05
FUNDAMENTAL
FOCUS
4. THE PREUNITY SITUATION AND THE
FIRST POSITIVE DECADES
Speaking of the pre-unification situation we can say
that the locality of Campania that first practices
cultivation is Cava dei Tirreni, in the province of
Salerno. The type chosen has always been Erbasanta,
destined to provide excellent snuff. Moving on to the
first post-unification decades we can say that the
cultivation and processing of tobacco in Campania are
making important progress. Cultivation sees the
affirmation of new types from America.
5. Moving on to the years before the Great War, we see that in the
quarter of a century preceding the outbreak of the First World
War, the cultivation of tobacco and its processing in Campania
took further steps forward. In the industrial field, progress
mainly concerns the mechanization of production. A problem
during this period is represented by the problematic conditions
of life and work of the workers but the defeats of the revolts
probably induce the workers to surrender. During these years
the Erbasanta quality, by far prevalent in the past, has
progressively decreased, while the Kentucky quality has
increased and has progressively replaced the Brazil of
Benevento, typical of the area.
BEFORE THE GREAT WAR
6. The slowdown in cultivation during the First World War,
which is known for the province of Avelino, probably
concerns the whole of Campania. Just as a general recovery
in the 1920s is plausible, in this decade and the following one
the cultivation and the first processing of tobacco acquire
great importance in the province of Salerno. In 1933 the
cultivated hectares are about 1,400. In the Thirties the type
of crops changed again, induced by the change in the taste of
customers.
BETWEEN THE TWO WARS
7. In conclusion, the cultivation and processing of tobacco in
Campania will continue and expand in the second post-war period
but since 2002 this factory has stopped all activities, after the
transformation of the State Monopolies into Italian Tobacco
Entities and the sale of its 16 factories distributed throughout the
national territory. ETI then divested its business in December 2003
to British American Tobacco. In Cava the production of cigars is still
practiced even if in small dimensions. The parable of cultivation in
all areas of Campania is similar, especially in the Agro Nocerino
Sarnese.
CONCLUSION
