Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
(N/A)
BLACKSBURG,VA 24061
Performing Department
Southern Piedmont Agri Research & Ext Ctr
Non Technical Summary
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in March of 2018 titled "Tobacco Product Standard of Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products". The ANPRM addressed reducing nicotine levels in tobacco filler used for cigarette manufacture by 95 to 98% (Ashley and Backinger, 2012). The agency stated that nicotine levels of 0.3 to 0.5 mg nicotine per g of tobacco filler were achievable through multiple strategies that included alternative production practices in the field. Whether such reductions in nicotine are actually feasible with currently available flue-cured and burley tobacco varieties is questionable. However, the economic impact to tobacco growers producing tobacco with such nonconventional production practices was not considered in the ANPRM but needs to be determined. Currently the tobacco industry does not utilize GMO technology and there are very few publicly available lines of flue-cured or burley tobacco developed through traditional plant breeding techniques that are considered to be low nicotine. The resulting nicotine levels from such low nicotine lines, coupled with alternative production practices intended to reduce nicotine production, have not been extensively evaluated under multiple growing environments. Nitrogen fertilization of low nicotine tobacco will differ from conventional varieties, as well as protocols for curing of the tobacco. Additionally, nicotine plays an important role in the natural pest defense of tobacco and substantially lower levels will have unknown impacts on pest populations in the tobacco.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Evaluate agronomic production practices and alternative varieties intended to produce low nicotine flue-cured and burley tobacco.Determine the impact of low nicotine tobacco production on yield, cured leaf quality, and economic value of low nicotine tobacco.
Project Methods
The proposed field trials will be conducted in a collaborative manner under the direction of the Low Nicotine Tobacco Production Practices Taskforce of the Cooperative Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA). The field trials will determine the impact of modified cultural practices on nicotine levels of conventional and low alkaloid tobacco varieties. The taskforce has met to determine treatments to be evaluated and to develop a standard testing protocol and sampling procedure. Separate trials will be conducted for flue-cured and burley tobacco. Best local practices (BLP) will also be compared to a set of low nicotine management practices (LNMP) to be evaluated across all test sites. Given the fact that these trials will be conducted as part of a collaborative trial with international sites, the BLP will differ, and LNMP will be altered, based on the specific local requirements.Collaborating Locations:Flue-cured tobacco: USA - VA, USA - NC (2), Brazil, China, France, Italy, Korea, Philippines, South Africa, and Zimbabwe,Burley tobacco: USA - VA, USA - KY, USA - NC, Brazil, China, France, Korea, Malawi, Philippines, South Africa, and Zimbabwe,Treatments - Flue-Cured TobaccoLocal best practice (LBP)Plant population = 6,000 plants per acFertilization = 70 lbs per ac N, 42 lbs per ac P2O5, and 135 lbs per ac K2OTopping 25% bloomLow nicotine management (LNMP)Plant population = 8,400 plants per acFertilization = 35 lbs per ac N, 42 lbs per ac P2O5, and 135 lbs per ac K2ONo topping of plantsFlue-cured tobacco varieties to be grown:K 326 (control variety to be grown at all sites)ms K 326 (Low alkaloid Nic1 and Nic2 genes)ITB 697 (Low alkaloid Nic1 and Nic2 genes)NC 196 (local standard variety as control)Treatments - Burley TobaccoLocal best practice (LBP)Plant population = 7,000 plants per acFertilization = 220 lbs per ac N, 60 lbs per ac P2O5, and 200 lbs per ac K2OTopping 25% bloomLow nicotine management (LNMP)Plant population = 8,400 plants per acFertilization = 110 lbs per ac N, 60 lbs per ac P2O5, and 200 lbs per ac K2ONo topping of plantsBurley varieties to be grown:TN 90 LC (control variety to be grown at all sites)ms TN 90 LA (Low alkaloid Nic1 and Nic2 genes)ITB 5101 (Low alkaloid not Nic1 and Nic2 genes)HB 4488 (local standard variety as control)Statistical Design:Two separate field trials will be conducted with flue-cured and burley tobacco. Treatments (2 management programs X 4 varieties) will be arranged in a split-plot design with 4 replications. Management programs will be arranged as the whole-plot with varieties as the subplot. The tests will be planted with a row spacing of 48 in. and plot row lengths of 40 ft. Individual plots will be four rows wide with the two center rows for sampling and harvest and the outside rows serving as borders between plots. Sucker control and pest management practices will follow recommended practices in Virginia (Reed et al. 2019)) for flue-cured and burley tobacco. Due to the low nicotine trait of the test lines in both trials, increased insect pressure is anticipated and thus increased scouting and insecticide applications are expected to be necessary to prevent loss. Harvest timing will be based on the maturity and ripening of the control variety for the two tobacco types (K 326 for flue-cured and TN 90 LC for burley). All plots will be harvested at the same time. The leaf number to be harvested in the non-topped LNMP treatment will be limited to the number in LBP treatment where plants are topped.Data to be collectedYield and cured leaf quality (USDA grade), plus per acre value, based on market value of USDA grades.Cured leaf samples for individual alkaloids (nicotine, nornicotine, anatabine, anabasine) and reducing sugars (flue-cured only).Two representative samples of 2 kg of whole leaf will be collected from each replication from both the lower and upper portion of the stalk; a 500 g of lamina subsample will be used for chemical analysis.The following information will be necessary for reporting of the overall collaborative trials:Crop management dates (greenhouse seeding, transplanting, topping, harvesting, etc.)Pest and disease incidencePesticide applicationsRainfall and irrigationField tests will be conducted at the Virginia Tech Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Blackstone, Virginia. Curing barn infrastructure for both flue-cured and burley tobacco are available for these tests for the duration of the project. Facilities are available for processing of the cured tobacco for yield determination and quality evaluation by a USDA-AMS tobacco grader. The research center has necessary capacity for sample drying and grinding as well as an on-site laboratory available for the chemical analyses required of the cured leaf.Statistical Analysis:Separate analyses will be conducted for flue-cued and burley tobacco as these are two distinctly different types of tobacco. Data will be analyzed as a two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and significance of whole-plot (two management practices) and split-plot (four varieties) treatments will be evaluated. A combined analysis across years will be conducted to evaluate for a year-to-year effect. Furthermore, as this is a collaborative project with multiple test sites, a location effect will be investigated as well. Results from the year-to-year and by location analyses will determine how much data may be pooled together for a combined analysis.