Leaf buyers reminded of purchase commitments

The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has warned tobacco companies that stringent action will be taken if they fail to purchase leaf tobacco as per the agreements they reached with the Tobacco Board of India, according to a story in the Indian Express relayed by the TMA.

The warning was issued at a June 19 meeting of board officials and representatives of tobacco farmers and companies.

At the same time, the chief minister directed the board “to take up the responsibility of solving their [growers’] problems”.

His intervention followed a petition filed by the Federation of Virginia Tobacco Farmers Associations urging the government to intervene following a decline in leaf prices.

The farmers complained that they were not receiving attractive prices for their crop because just one tobacco company had bought 90 percent of the crop so far.