Business Standard

Andhra reaps rich harvest of tobacco

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Chandrasekhar Guntur
Apart from the Flu-Cured Virginia (FCV) variety of tobacco, about 50 million kg of other tobacco varieties have been harvested in Andhra Pradesh and are passing through various stages of marketing.
 
Prominent among them are Burley tobacco, Eluru Natu, Kurnool Natu and Kentucky Fire-Cured (KFC) tobacco. As these varieties do not come under the jurisdiction of the Tobacco Board, they have remained in the unorganised segment.
 
Buyers approach farmers directly to buy their requirements. This makes the cultivation and marketing of these varieties, unlike FCV tobacco, pass off peacefully without controversies and agitation over prices offered to farmers.
 
Burley tobacco is of two types "� sun-cured and air-cured. Harvell de Baixo Rio Grande (HDBRG), a high nicotine content (4 per cent) crop, is sun-cured tobacco and is grown in Prakasam, Guntur and Kurnool districts. This year's crop size (2004-05) has been put at 25 million kg.
 
At present, bottoms and second picking grades are being marketed. Farmers are paid Rs 10 per kg of bottoms grade, and Rs 15 per kg of second picking grade.
 
Air-cured burley is also called light soil burley. This variety, a monsoon crop with less nicotine content (2 per cent), is grown at Yeleswaram (East Godavari), Warangal, and Vinukonda (Guntur).
 
This year, farmers harvested 3.2 million kg at Yeleswaram, 3.5 million kg at Warangal and 3.5 million kg at Vinukonda, taking the total light-soil burley crop size to almost 11 million kg. Traders have paid Rs 40 per kg to farmers for this tobacco.
 
The ITC and the Vazir Sultan Tobacco (VST) respectively dominated purchases at Vinukonda and Warangal, leaving Yeleswaram burley tobacco to other players.
 
The Eluru Natu, used in cigars, as snuff powder and as a blend in cigarettes, is cultivated in the Godavari districts. Chennai companies vie with one another to purchase this crop known for its high nicotine content.
 
The size of this crop has been estimated at 12-15 million kg. Crop purchases have not yet begun but farmers hope to get a price of Rs 8 per kg of bottoms (juti) grade and Rs 15 per kg of tallagulla (TG) grade.
 
Kurnool Natu, the crop size of which declined over the past few years, is expected to regain its popularity this year. In the past, farmers produced about 70 million kg of this crop every year. The VST used to be the sole patroniser for it.
 
This year, farmers have harvested 1.5 million kg of this tobacco. Around 2.2 million kg of Kentucky Fire-Cured (KFC) has been marketed and farmers were paid Rs 20-40 per kg for this crop.
 
The companies that are actively involved in purchasing these tobacco varieties include ITC, VST, Duncans, Mittapalli and ITT, according to tobacco market sources here.

 
 

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First Published: Mar 25 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

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