Andhra Pradesh's tobacco farmers are now nursing global dreams.
In a recent development, tobacco farmers from Andhra Pradesh met Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh and demanded that their product should also get the price at par with the rates ruling in Brazil.
The farmers are demanding a hike of $2 per kg of tobacco, as done in Brazil. However, the average price quoted on the trade platforms in the state is Rs 49 per kg.
Usually the Andhra growers demand price parity with Karnataka prices, which averaged at over Rs 56 per kg, but this time they have gone a step further and sought international prices.
While the authorised crop in Andhra is at 150 million tonnes, the actual crop grown is estimated at 160 million tonnes in the current season.
Interestingly, only about 24 million tonnes have so far been sold on the 21 trading platforms across the state. Further, the farmers want the government to remove all restrictions on the sale of tobacco by allowing the farmers to choose the prospective buyers.
They claim that the prices are being dictated by a few international buyers who dominate the trading platforms, while the local buyers keep low profile.
In the bargain, farmers are holding on to the stock for long, resulting in colour fading and weight loss, thus impacting the prices, officials said.
