Frustrated by the refusal of traders to offer a respectable remunerative package for their produce, tobacco farmers in Kandukur set a few bags of tobacco ablaze. They demanded that Rs. 130 be paid per kg of tobacco leaves.
Tobacco farmers have been protesting against the extremely low remuneration being offered for their tobacco leaves, as a result of which Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy sanctioned Rs. 20 crores to local farmer cooperative societies for market intervention (i.e. for acquiring the tobacco at higher prices). Rs. 10 crores was immediately released, and the rest of the amount is also slated to be released soon.
However, this attempt to help tobacco farmers get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce was in vain - traders further decreased the price per kg of leaves from Rs. 124 to Rs. 115. Low grade varieties were bought for as low as Rs. 70 per kg.
Tobacco farmers have been stalling the selling of their leaves, protesting against the low prices being offered for their produce. As a result, only 50 million kgs of the total 170 million kgs of tobacco produced last season have been acquired thus far, even though the process had started 77 days ago.
filed in:Farmers, Minimum Support Price, Tobacco Farmers