Varieties and Production Practices to Maximize Nicotine to be Utilized in Emerging Tobacco Products

The Council for Burley Tobacco funded this project in 2015; we are applying for a second year of funding because we would like to repeat it in 2016 so that we have two years of data. The 2015 tissue samples have been collected, dried, and ground. They are currently in the laboratory being analyzed. Data should be available by the end of the year. An interim progress report was submitted in October. Emerging tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes create potential new opportunities for Kentucky tobacco growers. This project will move forward with two promising tobacco lines that were selected as a result of previous research funded by the Council for Burley Tobacco. These lines have the desired agronomic traits and higher levels of nicotine that could potentially make producing tobacco for pure nicotine practical for Kentucy tobacco farmers. This study will utilize these selected lines to determine optimal fetilization and topping practices needed to maximize nicotine levels in the plant. In addition, methods for mechanical topping and harvesting will be explored in an efffort to develop the most economical production system. Yeild data and spot check for nicotine levels were desirable.