The Tobacco Board’s move to check unauthorised tobacco cultivation has caused flutter among growers in the northern light soil (NLS) area in West Godavari district.
According to information, some farmers are planning to hold a meeting at Gopalapuram in the district on Saturday to resist the move. The board has reportedly resorted to impose curbs on renewal of licenses for the tobacco barons under use for the crop year 2013-14 in a bid to keep the growing unauthorised cultivation under check.
Some growers hold the view that the curbs were aimed against only the ‘innocent’ farmers. The growers were allegedly subjected to hardship in getting the Tobacco Board to renew as many as 800 barons because of the curbs. The meeting is expected to chart a course of action on the issue.
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The official data available with the Tobacco Board revealed that there were 47,250 growers cultivating flue cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco in 1,23,615 ha as against the notified area of 1,14,716 ha in all types of soils in the State. The excess production of 42 million kg in the unauthorised area spread over 10,000 ha led to a price crash in the current year.
A kilogram of produce was priced at Rs 142.67 in NLS area in 20012-13. But it nosedived to Rs 128 in the current year, a drop by Rs 14. The fluctuations are attributed to the demand-supply mismatch accelerated by excess production in unauthorised area.
The feel-good factor has led to a craze among farmers in favour of tobacco cultivation which ruled the roost for several years. The pro-tobacco upbeat mood was aided by favourable market, liberal bank finance, prompt payments for the produce ensured by the board from the traders etc..
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This has resulted in a vast expansion of the tobacco area, eclipsing the other crops such as mango and cashew and even maize. Gadde Seshagiri Rao, spokesman of the NLS Area Tobacco Growers Welfare Association, backed the Tobacco Board’s regulatory measures while appealing to the growers to fall in line only for their own long-term future.