Farmers demand FDI

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com India, 03/26/2007

Two hundred tobacco farmers from India's tobacco-producing states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are in Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, according to a report in the Hindu Business Line. The report quoted Dr. Y. Sivaji, president of the Andhra Pradesh Virginia Tobacco Growers' Association, as saying that the farmers would voice a number of demands, in particular a demand for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tobacco sector. Sivaji said that during a recent visit to Zimbabwe and Brazil, Indian farmers had learned that the average per-kg price paid to tobacco farmers in those countries was US$2, whereas in India it was less than US$1. Even allowing for higher costs of cultivation, the net return for Indian tobacco farmers was much less than that of Zimbabwean or Brazilian farmers. So unless FDI was allowed into the sector, the Indian farmer would continue to be "cheated," he added. Enditem