Tobacco Too Spells Doom for Farmers

Source from:  September 24 2007 newindpress.com 09/25/2007

Tobacco, it seems, is harmful in more ways than one. Farmers of these parts have realised this the hard way. After burning their fingers raising the Bengal Gram, they pinned all their hopes on tobacco, considered the most bankable crop. ''No other crop fetches as much income and employment as tobacco. That is the reason why we prefer it,'' explains V Chandrasekhar, a farmer of Maddipadu. But has it? The ryots have raised tobacco in about 2 lakh acres. In fact, half of the 150 million kg of tobacco produced in the State is grown in the district. It's all stored in 20,000 barns. However impressive it may sound, in actual fact, this glut has spelt doom for the farmers. The Tobacco Board has made it clear that it will allow only 31,000 quintals in each barn. Excess production will invite a 15 pc 'fine'. In other words, a cut from the minimum support price. The farmers under the Ongole, Kondepi and Vellampalli tobacco auction centres have produced 50,000-70,000 quintals of tobacco under each barn. ''If we pay Rs 800 fine for each additional quintal, we will suffer a loss of Rs 40,000 on each barn,'' says S Krishnaiah, a farmer from Vellampalli. The farmers have demanded that the Tobacco Board raise the maximum limit up to 50,000 quintals under each barn. Representatives of the Tobacco Farmers' Federation approached Union Commerce Minister and Tobacco Board officials in Delhi thrice during the last two months. But, nothing has come out of it. During the last six years, the Tobacco Board has collected Rs 200 crore fine from the farmers of the district. ''The Central Government is looting the tobacco farmers in the name of fine,'' alleged N Gopaiah, an exasperated farmer from Tangutur. Enditem