Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco auctions will begin in Andhra Pradesh in the third week of February, Tobacco Board Chairman Koothati Gopal said here on Monday.
The FCV tobacco auctions will commence on five platforms in Southern Light Soils (SLS) region, to be followed by seven platforms at Southern Black Soils (SBS) region in Prakasam district and five platforms at Northern Light Soils (NLS) region in West Godavari district.
The Tobacco Board has already fixed a crop size of 276 million kg for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with the crop size for AP being pegged at 172 million kg. The board would also ensure that the entire tobacco is marketed on auction floors, Dr. Gopal told media persons here after releasing the annual calendar which also has a monthly planner for farmers on cropping.
The FCV tobacco auctions have already commenced in Karnataka and 44 million kg of tobacco already been marketed with average prices hovering around Rs.114 per kg. The highest price offered for bright grade varieties was Rs.166 per kg, he said.
Dr. Gopal further said the Board had set itself a target of hitting the Rs.7,000 crore mark in exports and Board’s initiatives to create a ‘brand image,’ by persistent efforts to produce high quality clean tobacco have been yielding results.
The Board has bagged the prestigious “2014 Golden Leaf Award” for its impressive public service initiatives at the Global Tobacco Networking Forum (GTNF) held in Washington D.C. and West Virginia, U.S.A in November 2014.
The Board has been advising farmers to go for alternative crops keeping in view of the global health campaign against the use of tobacco but the Board is also keen on clamping down on an unregulated production and marketing of non-FCV tobacco varieties used in manufacturing of beedi, hookah etc. India being a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), has taken several steps to regulate the production of unauthorised Tobacco.
“The Tobacco Board has control over just 35 per cent of FCV tobacco and the remaining percentage of non-FCV high risk tobacco with wide domestic consumption is not regulated. We have written to the Central government on this and expect a definite stand this year,’’ Dr. Gopal said.
The Board is also considering the introduction of a price stabilisation fund to give cover to farmers hit by natural calamities and the risk in trade.
