Crop regulators ought to pace up and end the in about 100 days for them to get value, say tobacco farmers.
| Photo Credit: Srinivas Kommuri
Thanks to beneficial grade out-turn, tobacco auctions have commenced optimistically within the 4 platforms within the Prakasam district.
The main cigarette producers and choose exporters have vied to purchase the brilliant grade varieties within the value vary of ₹195 to ₹200 per kg in Ongole I, Velampalli and Kondepi within the Southern Black Soil (SBS) area and Podili within the Southern Light Soil (SLS) area.
“The auctions are proceeding swiftly with the farmers getting a good price of up to ₹200 per kg” Krishna SriTobacco Board Production Manager
‘’The auctions are continuing swiftly with the farmers getting value of up to ₹200 per kg,’‘ says Tobacco Board Production Manager Krishna Sri, who oversaw the auctions in Ongole on February 28 (Tuesday).
‘’The farmers have realised a mean of ₹197.83 per kg for the 1,075 bales marketed until Tuesday. The auctions are being held in 4 platforms,” stated Ms. Krishna Sri, additionally the in-charge of the Southern Light Soil (SLS) and Southern Black Soil (SBS) areas. Farmers introduced 300 to 400 bales per day to every of the public sale platforms.
No takers for meduim-grade
However, the merchants confirmed no inclination to decide up the medium-grade selection and the ungraded tobacco. There have been no takers for “mouldy and funky leaf tobacco’‘ either.
Big exporters like Alliance One International and Bommidalla enterprises started bidding in the auction from the beginning, unlike in the past when they used to adopt a wait-and-watch attitude due to delays in the confirmation of orders from their overseas counterparts.
More buyers soon
‘‘More exporters can be expected to enter the market in a big way in the Mysuru region in a fortnight or so, once the auctions are over,’‘ said the Indian Tobacco Association sources. The farmers were asked to bring well-graded tobacco to the auctions to avoid rejections in the early phase.
Meanwhile, the rising mercury kept the farmers on tenterhooks as they feared discolourisation and weight loss to the curing of the leaves. The crop regulator should speed up the auctions and complete them in about 100 days to realise a better price for their produce, said a group of farmers in Ongole.
According to progressive farmer B. Ramanjaneyulu, traders should offer at least a 20% increase in the prices for various grades this season, taking into effect the extensive crop damage caused by the rise in the cost of cultivation.
Though crop coverage went up to 85,000 hectares against 66,000 hectares in the previous year, the productivity was only between five to six quintals per acre this year as against about eight quintals last year.
The Tobacco Board has estimated the production to be 53.20 million kg in the SBS region and 48.20 million kg in the SLS region this Rabi. The crop regulator has fixed a crop size of 89.35 million kg limit for SLS and SBS regions.
The second phase of auctions will commence in Ongole II, Tangutur and Kanigiri in the Prakasam district and Kandukur I, Kandukur II, Kaligiri and D.C. Palli in SPSR Nellore district on March 9.
Meanwhile, Income Tax department officials conducted extensive raids on tobacco traders’ homes and godowns in different areas, Ongole and Tangutur, as they’ve made huge cash with the market going northwards within the final couple of years, in accordance to official sources.
