Flue-cured prices regain lost ground in Karnataka

Flue-cured tobacco prices are continuing to climb at auctions being held in the Indian state of Karnataka, according to a story in the latest issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

Fifty one days into the 2015-16 sales season and with 28.43 million kg sold, the average price stood at Rs137 per kg, up about 18 percent from Rs116 at the same stage of the previous season, 2014-2015.

It is difficult at this stage of the season to assess what such an increase means. With sales almost finished in Karnataka last season (2014-15), prices there were down by more than 16 percent on those of the 2013-14 season.

The highest price paid so far this season is Rs174 per kg.

Meanwhile, Nirmala Sitharaman, a politician from the state of Andhra

Pradesh who is currently serving as the Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has directed Tobacco Board officials to take all measures to regulate the flue-cured crop in Andhra Pradesh so as to avoid a production overrun during the 2015-16 season.

Production should not exceed the 120 million kg authorized crop size, she said during a review meeting in Delhi.

The minister told board officials, including the chairman, Manoj Dwivedi, that the difficult situation faced by tobacco growers earlier this year should not be allowed to recur.

The board, through mass interaction or through field officers, had to impress on farmers that they should not indulge in excessive cultivation. And it had to advise them to grow a good-quality crop.

Growers should be encouraged to produce alternative crops, if necessary, the minister added.