Be Quality-Conscious, Minister Tells Tobacco Farmers

Source from:  hindu.com Special Correspondent  03/08/2006

Government ready to increase drip irrigation subsidy HONOUR FOR FARMER: Minister for Agriculture N. Raghuveera Reddy and Minister for Labour G. Vinod presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Tobacco Institute of India to Annamreddy Subba Rao in Hyderabad on Sunday. - Photo: Sivakumar P.V. HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy has urged tobacco farmers to go in for quality product with a view to enhancing exports, as the country's share is only 3.5 per cent in the global trade. [img border=0 hspace="4" vspace="4" align="left" src=http://www.tobaccochina.com/english/picture/2006030608540401.jpg] Delivering the keynote address at a function organised by the Tobacco Institute of India (TII) to present TII Tobacco Farmers Awards here on Sunday, Mr. Reddy said improved product quality and increased exports would enable the industry to survive. He called for more research in this regard. The Government had already enhanced the subsidy on drip irrigation to 60 per cent and was willing to increase it further. Referring to the ill-effects of tobacco consumption, the Minister expressed concern that use of traditional products, like beedi and chewing tobacco, was going up even as that of cigarettes was coming down. 'Use latest tech' Labour Minister G. Vinod urged farmers to adopt latest technology so that quality could improve and exports go up. Udayan Lall, TII Director, said tobacco should be accorded the same treatment as other cash crops. He urged the Government to formulate a pragmatic policy. The flue-cured Virginia tobacco had tremendous potential to enhance agri-income, increase rural employment, boost exports and maximise Government revenue. Unfortunately, past policies had resulted in FCV comprising less than 35 per cent of the total tobacco industry. Despite producing 10 per cent of the world's tobacco, the country held a mere 3.5 per cent of US $ 6.3-billion global tobacco leaf export trade. Export earnings could be tripled to Rs. 2,800 crores if the country aligned its production pattern with global demand. Equitable policy He called for an equitable tobacco policy which would reduce the wide duty differential between cigarettes and other tobacco products. Currently, cigarettes, with their meagre 14 per cent share of total tobacco consumption, contribute 85 per cent of the revenue. Taxes on a per kg basis were 30 times higher on cigarettes, as compared to bidi and chewing tobacco. Later 14 progressive tobacco farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were presented with the awards. Two of them were given life-time achievement awards. M. Rajamohan Reddy, Lal Jan Basha, MPs, and TII executive director Ramesh Babu spoke. Enditem