AP CM assures tobacco farmers of state, Centre support

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured tobacco farmers today that the state and central governments as well as the Tobacco Board would not let them suffer any losses due to lack of demand.
According to a release issued here, after tobacco farmers submitted a memorandum to the AP CM on June 19 in Vijayawada, he held a meeting at the secretariat here today with farmers from Guntur, Prakasam and West Godavari districts along with ministers Prathipati Pulla Rao, Peethala Sujatha and Tobacco Board Chairman K Gopal.
He directed the Tobacco Board to get a remunerative price for the produce and work to enhance productivity, the release stated.

"Relying on high procurement of crop earlier, farmers expanded their crop area. This resulted in a demand decline," Naidu said.
The release said that he spoke to Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman who has promised to save farmers from incurring losses.
Farmers informed the AP Chief Minister that out of 190 million kilograms of tobacco produced, traders have sought to purchase 172 million kilograms, while the actual quantity purchased stood at 39 million kilograms, the release said.
The AP CM suggested that farmers must cultivate crop based on demand and quote the price of the produce in advance, to avoid huge differences in demand and supply, the release said.