There has been a sharp decline in tobacco production in central Gujarat as an increasing number of farmers are turning to other cash crops. Production is estimated to dip by around 40 per cent by the end of the Rabi season this year.
Over the past few years, tobacco farmers in central Gujarat, that account for a majority of tobacco production in the state, have shifted to other cash crops like cotton, castor, banana, and other vegetables.
Unseasonal rains and pests have also contributed to lower production this year, Bhikhubhai Patel, president, Gujarat Tobacco Merchants' Association, said. Better returns in cotton and castor crops have lured many farmers, he added.
Gujarat produced around 1,00,000 tonnes of tobacco last year. Estimates of lower production have already fuelled prices of raw tobacco to a record high in 2007-08.
Tobacco in India is used mainly for manufacturing bidi and chewing tobacco like gutkha. Gujarat supplies 80 per cent of the tobacco for manufacturing these products.
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According to statistics available with the government of Gujarat, tobacco output in the state stood at 2,50,000 tonnes in 2003-04. This declined to 1,00,000 tonnes in 2006-07.
Industry players fear the trend is likely to continue next year as well. In fact, the area brought under tobacco cultivation has been declining for the past four years, a senior government official said.
In the past month alone, prices of good-quality tobacco have increased by around Rs. 300 to Rs. 400 for 20 kg. Prices of desi tobacco touched Rs. 1,400 for 20 kg; these stood at Rs. 900 to Rs. 925 last fiscal.
Similarly, Kalkatti tobacco prices reached a record high of Rs. 1,200 for 20 kg this season, up from Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 last year.
"Bidi and gutkha manufacturers are not getting enough supply of raw material due to lower production,'" said Patel, who is also a leading tobacco trader.