Abstract: To promote the control precision and reduce the inter-batch fluctuation of moisture content in tobacco at the inlet of tobacco dryer in primary processing line, a moisture content control system based on water compensation was designed by way of reducing water addition in loosening and conditioning process and compensating water addition in strip heating process. Through multiple regression analysis, the regression relationship between the moisture content in tobacco at the outlet of strip heating and that at the inlet of drying is obtained and used to guide the setting of water addition in strip heating process. The cut tobacco for "Septwolves (Haoqing)" brand cigarettes was tested in Xiamen Tobacco Industrial Limited Corporation. The results showed that after modification, the mean deviation of the moisture content in tobacco at the inlet of dryer from the technical standard value decreased by 0.098 percentage points, and the proportion of batches with deviation less than 0.2% increased by 17.6 percentage points. This method provides a support for the precise control of moisture content in tobacco before drying.