Tobacco production in the State is likely to drop by around 50 per cent this time owing to lack of sufficient rainfall.
The rain in the last couple of days may not help the crop, which was cultivated in April–May, according to the Federation of Karnataka Virginia Tobacco Growers’ Association.
Association president Jaware Gowda told The Hindu that nearly half of the crop in the tobacco-growing belts of the State, predominantly Mysore and parts of Hassan districts, had been damaged.
The association recently submitted a memorandum to the Tobacco Board to provide compensation for the loss.
“The annual income from tobacco crop in the State is around Rs. 1,200 crore. If 50 per cent of the crop is damaged, the crop damage this year could cost around Rs. 600 crore,” he claimed.
Mr. Gowda said compensation of Rs. 20,000 an acre had been sought from the board. Last year, about 30 to 40 per cent of the crop was damaged owing to excess rainfall, but growers did not get relief despite submitting representations. Compensation of Rs. 2,000 an acre was released for damage reported four years ago, he informed.
Crop sizeMr. Gowda said the board had fixed the tobacco crop size at 104 million kg for the current year. Tobacco is cultivated on about one lakh hectares of land.
VFC tobacco or cigarette tobacco produced in the State constitutes around one-third of the total VFC tobacco grown in the country.
Efforts are being made to discourage growers from cultivating tobacco by offering some “incentives”.
India has to reduce tobacco cultivation by 2020 as it is a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and therefore it is under obligation to bring down production. India is among the 150 countries that are signatories to the FCTC, sponsored by the World Health Organisation.
But, tobacco growers here argue that no suitable alternative crops have been suggested by the Centre.
