Allaying fears of tobacco growers in Prakasam district who were struggling to get a remunerative price for their produce, Tobacco Board Chairman K. Gopal on Thursday said the Board was going all out to find new markets and also consolidate India’s position in traditional markets to ensure a better price for their produce.
Mr. Gopal, who had visited Egypt and China, in this regard was planning to lead business delegations to Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries to boost exports.
While observing the e-auction proceedings at Ongole II auction platform, he prompted the traders to break the higher band for different varieties of tobacco.
“Though tobacco and tobacco product exports fell to Rs. 5,613.64 crore during 2014-15 as against Rs. 6,092.86 crore the previous year, the Board is confident of exporting products worth Rs. 7,000 crore this year,” he said and detailed the efforts being made by the Board to get export orders from countries such as China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Tunisia and Iran.
The present crisis was a result of medium and low grade tobacco accounting for a maximum production unlike last year when bright grade accounted for bulk of the production fetching a higher price for Prakasam ryots.
The Chairman ruled out the possibility of the board intervening in the market, saying, “We have taken care to bring vibrancy into the market even during the lull period. We will leave it to the market forces to decide the price.”
He also turned down the growers’ plea to do away with penalty on excess crop in the present distress situation, saying penalty was the only deterrent available with the board to make farmers adhere to the crop size. “Farmers in the State had violated the crop size of 172 million kg fixed by the board for this year by producing 22 million kg more after producing 214 million kg as against the crop size of 172 million kg in the previous year,” he pointed out.
There was no proposal before the board for giving any compensation to the farmers willing to dismantle tobacco barns, he said.
Sourse:thehindu.com
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