2 months ago
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Tobacco farmers crossed the portion are gripped by anxiousness implicit the dilatory liquidation of their produce, triggered by a crisp slump successful prices and mediocre request connected auction platforms crossed the State.
Although the auction play commences successful September–October and concludes by March each year, implicit 24 cardinal kg of baccy remains unsold connected auction platforms successful April this year. This is contempt a comparatively little output of 85 cardinal kg against the estimated harvest size of 100 cardinal kg for the 2025–26 season.
The mediocre offtake connected auction platforms has further added to the woes of farmers, who were already reeling nether the interaction of the steep autumn successful prices. Bright-grade tobacco, which fetched arsenic precocious arsenic ₹320 per kg astatine the commencement of the play successful October 2025, saw prices dip beneath ₹250 per kg by February. The diminution followed a simplification successful procurement by traders aft the imposition of excise work and an summation successful Goods and Services Tax (GST) connected baccy products.
While prices of bright-grade baccy person shown marginal stabilisation, rates for medium- and low-grade varieties person slid further beneath ₹200 per kg, triggering wide resentment among the farmers.
“Alongside home taxation pressures, planetary proviso has accrued owing to a bully harvest successful cardinal tobacco-producing countries specified arsenic Zimbabwe and South Africa,” said Vikram Raj Urs, wide caput of the Federation of VFC Tobacco Growers Association of Karnataka.
In protestation against the terms crash, agitated farmers person been forcing the closure of auction platforms successful respective parts of the Mysuru portion each present and then.
In response, the Tobacco Board convened a peculiar gathering successful Mysuru successful the archetypal week of March this year. The gathering was attended by Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, Tobacco Board president Yashwanth Kumar Chidipothu, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Mysuru MP, and Animal Husbandry and Sericulture Minister K. Venkatesh, who represents the tobacco-growing hub of Periyapatna successful the Legislative Assembly. However, farmers person yet to realise the prices witnessed astatine the opening of the auction season.
Traders participating successful the gathering besides cited logistical challenges successful exporting the baccy connected relationship of the disruptions successful shipping baccy consignments and disruptions arising from the ongoing struggle successful West Asia involving the United States-Israel and Iran.
While the Tobacco Board has assured farmers that the auction play volition beryllium extended until the full banal is liquidated, Mr. Urs indicated that the hold whitethorn person to proceed indefinitely fixed the anemic planetary demand.
He noted that baccy farmers successful the portion person not experienced specified a terrible downturn successful respective decades.
Although the Tobacco Board has reduced the harvest people for 2026–27 to 90 cardinal kg from 100 cardinal kg past year, Mr. Urs argued that accumulation should ideally beryllium restricted to astir 40 cardinal kg to reconstruct demand-supply equilibrium and stabilise prices.
Despite the bleak outlook, galore farmers person already commenced sowing for the adjacent season. “There is an urgent request to sensitise farmers to importantly standard down cultivation. While announcing a harvest vacation whitethorn not beryllium feasible astatine this stage, the country nether baccy cultivation should beryllium reduced and farmers encouraged to diversify into alternate crops,” Mr. Urs said.
