AP Tobacco Growers Want Board to Pick up 20 mn kg

Source from:  RAGHU KRISHNAN 04/07/2005

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 06, 2005 10:41:59 PM] Sign into earnIndiatimes points BANGALORE: Faced with a sluggish offtake in the ongoing tobacco auctions in Andhra Pradesh, growers' representatives have requested the PM and the Union commerce minister to ask the Tobacco Board to mop up 20m kg at the auctions. The commerce ministry is said to have to have told the growers that it would prefer to wait and see whether auction-prices pick up before asking the board to intervene. The board has intervened only on two previous occasions during the '84 and '00 seasons when it bought a few million kg at the AP auctions. It is estimated that nearly 16.3m kg were purchased this season till April 2, compared to 26.4m kg at this stage last year. This season's average per-kg price has also been less at Rs 42.2, as compared to Rs 43.5 kg. However, at a meeting with the AP agriculture minister on March 31, the president of the Indian Tobacco Association gave an assurance that the trade would co-operate to the maximum extent in mitigating the farmers' problems. The growers requested the minister to speak to the commerce ministry and get the Tobacco Board to buy at the auctions. At this meeting, the AP agriculture minister, Raghuveera Reddy, advised the AP Tobacco Growers' Co-operative Union to fully settle the previous year's dues so that the state government could advance a fresh loan this year to enable the union to enter the market, purchase tobacco at the auctions and stabilise prices in the interests of growers. After receiving funding from the state government to the tune of Rs 10 crore last season, the union had purchased tobacco, processed it and sold it to overseas buyers and domestic manufacturers. From its sales-proceeds, the union is reported to have paid back Rs 7 crore to the state government, with the balance expected to be settled once it disposes off the remaining stocks. Leading domestic manufacturers like ITC are said to be actively buying from the union so that the union can settle last year's dues and be eligible for fresh state funding. This season's authorised crop-size for AP is 108.2m kg, as against an estimated quantity of 146.2m kg. The previous season's authorised crop-size was 107.9m kg, as against an estimated quantity of 147.9m kg sold. The Tobacco Board is currently conducting auctions on 19 platforms in AP. Enditem