Karnataka tobacco crop may rise 5%

With auctions set to commence on September 10, the Tobacco Board has estimated Karnataka’s crop size at 100 million kg, an increase of 5.2 per cent over the 95 million kg in the last calendar year. Karnataka is the second largest producer of tobacco after Andhra Pradesh, which on an average produces 150 million kgs annually.

A Tobacco Board official said the crop this year was looking good compared to last year. “Rains in the last week of July and early August was timely and is likely to facilitate a good crop. Quality and quantity is expected to go up,” he added.

“Initial production estimates is expected to be around 100 million kgs. We need to wait for the rains to stop to take stock of the situation,” he noted. Karnataka has 85,000 hectares under tobacco cultivation.