MYSURU
Tobacco growers, who suffered a crop loss owing to copious rain earlier this year, a have reason to smile now. The start of the auction season for tobacco saw not only an increase in the demand for the product, but also in its price.
Compared to the 4.2 lakh kg of tobacco that was sold during the first eight days of auction last year, merchants purchased 24 lakh kg of tobacco during the first eight days of auction this year. The average price during the first eight days of auction, which began on September 19, went up from ₹147 a kg last year to ₹152 a kg this year.
The increase in the demand and the price of tobacco across the 11 auction platforms in the State comes just ahead of the start of the eighth session of conference of parties to the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Geneva in October to discuss, among other things, economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco cultivation.
The increase in the price this year has helped growers, many of whom lost a portion of their crop to the heavy rain earlier this year. Against an anticipated yield of 10.5 crore kg, Tobacco Board officials said they were expecting 9 crore kg of tobacco this year. Last year, 10.6 crore kg of tobacco was harvested against a crop size of 9.9 crore kg, fetching the growers an all-time highest price of ₹139.4 a kg.
The officials predicted that the average price of tobacco this year could surpass even last year’s record price. However, Javare Gowda, president, Federation of VFC Tobacco Growers’ of Karnataka, said it was too early to predict on the price while the auction season was progressing. He hoped the board would appeal to traders to come to the aid of the growers by offering a better price in view of the losses they had suffered. Close to 80% of the tobacco grown in Mysuru region commands international demand in view of the superior blending quality it possesses.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Tobacco Board K. Sunitha visited several tobacco auction platforms in Mysuru on Friday and interacted with growers in the region.
The growers not only sought amenities at various auction platforms, but also the board’s intervention to ensure that the prices of tobacco are remunerative for them.
