The Tobacco Board had requested the traders to increase the price by Rs 15 as farmers were incurring heavy losses. The board met the representatives of the Indian Tobacco Association (ITA) and urged them to buy the product at Rs 120 a kg.
The board took this initiative following complaints from tobacco growers of Guntur, Prakasam and Krishna districts on the lowest price being offered to them at auction platforms. The growers, as a result, have stopped bringing the product to the auction centres at Ongole in Prakasam district and Keesara in Krishna district.
The season’s highest price of Rs 128.54 a kg was offered at Devarapalli auction platform in West Godavari district, while the lowest of Rs 94.34 a kg was at Keesara platform.
In Karnataka, where auctions for the season closed on May 15, the highest price was Rs 98.26 a kg at Pariyapatnam and the lowest of Rs 87.02 a kg at HD Kote platform, both in Mysore district.
In all, the auction at Karnataka stood at 127,505,906.36 kg for the season, against the permitted quantity of 97.95 million kg at an average price of Rs 92.49 a kg.
In Andhra Pradesh, it was 405,59,530.01 kg as on May 21, 2011, against the permitted 158.97 million kg at an average price of Rs 113.79 a kg.
As auctions continue to take place in Andhra Pradesh, board chairman G Kamalavardhana Rao has requested the traders to increase the price to at least Rs 120 a kg and help the growers.
However, the ITA representatives are unwilling to offer the price suggested by the board on the ground that the prices in the international market were on the lower side.
“We can offer the board’s suggestive price if only we get better price in the global market. Otherwise, it would be difficult for us to give such a high price,” a senior member of the ITA said.
