Andhra Tobacco Board hikes crop target to 150 million kg

The Tobacco Board in Andra Pradesh has hiked the crop target from the initial 129 million kg to 150 million kg at farmers' appeal.

However, the Indian Tobacco Association (ITA), a body of traders and exporters, has placed the crop size at 180 million kg. Andhra Pradesh is the largest tobacco producing state in the country.

About 45, 240 registered tobacco growers in the Andhra Pradesh districts of Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari, Khammam and East Godavari are expected to offload 160-165 million kg flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco for auction at 20 tobacco boards in these districts.

J Suresh Babu, the newly appointed chairman of the Tobacco Board, said in this financial year, AP farmers had cultivated tobacco in 1.26 lakh hectares, covering 39,000 curing barns. Farmers of northern light soils (NLS) in West Godavari district were harvesting 43.37 million kg tobacco from 27,387 hectares and their counterparts of southern light soils (SLS) in Prakasam and Nellore districts would pile up 57.52 million kg from 63,860 hectares.

Farmers of southern black soils (SBS) in Prakasam district are gathering 36.59 million kg of tobacco crop from 32,320 hectares while farmers of central black soils (CBS) in Krishna and Guntur districts and those of northern black soils (NBS) in Khammam and East Godavari district are expected to reap 11.81 million kg from the remaining land.

He said that while farmers of light soils had incurred over Rs 75,000 per hectare to produce an average of 1,800-1,900 kg tobacco in NLS and 1,000-1,100 kg in SLS, farmers of black soils (SBS, CBS, NBS) would cure on average 1,500 kg per hectare at an expenditure of Rs. 50,000.

Farmers this season incurred heavy expenditure on sulphates of potash and wood fuel required for curing tobacco. Scarcity and shortage of farmhands added to their problems.

As a prelude to the main and regular auctions, he said the board is now conducting auction of the experimental early crop in six platforms. The early crop is intended to advance auction season in AP and to produce quality crop with higher yields in AP. This special crop raised in some selected villages of Prakasam and Nellore districts is expected to be about 11.38 million kg. Farmers have sold away about half a million kg of this crop so far.

That the excess tobacco crop would foment trouble for all the players in the sector in the next 3-4 months is discernible from the protests raised by farmers of West Godavari, who had demanded that they be paid at least Rs 70 per kg of tobacco now and the average rate be fixed at Rs 60. They sought an assurance from the ITC, the biggest buyer of FCV tobacco and their announced that they would not take part in auctions till the board intervened.

Meanwhile, over 66 million kg of tobacco of an estimated 83.73 million kg has been sold at the 10 auction platforms in Karnataka in 113 days.