Tobacco cultivation unaffected by pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have made little impression on tobacco cultivation in Karnataka this yr with farmers participating in plantation throughout Mysuru and elements of neighbouring Hassan district after the Tobacco Board enhanced the crop dimension to 97 million kg.

The Board, which had lowered the crop dimension for Karnataka from 99 million kg to 88 million kg final yr, fearing a dip within the international demand for the commodity as a result of pandemic, has virtually restored the common crop dimension by growing it to 97 million kg for the following yr.

A complete of 88.42 million kg of tobacco was auctioned throughout the 11 platforms within the State final yr (2020-21) with the very best bid fetching going for ₹264 per kg although the typical worth for the yr stood at ₹119.87 per kg as a considerable quantity of tobacco was categorised as low-grade.

Notwithstanding the uncertainty over exports throughout the pandemic, the farmers choose to go for tobacco crop, the place the returns are extra assured than different crops, mentioned President of Federation of Virginia Flue Cured (VFC) Tobacco Growers Associations of Karnataka Javare Gowda. Also, the Indian Tobacco Association (ITA), comprising producers and merchants of tobacco, had positioned an indent for buy of 99 million kg this yr.

Mr. Gowda cited the instance of how tobacco farmers, who shifted to ginger final yr, burnt their fingers after the value of the tuber collapsed from ₹2,500 to lower than ₹1,000 for a 60 kg bag. “The price of ginger has still not recovered,” mentioned Mr. Gowda.

Also, the Tobacco Board’s resolution to boost the crop dimension permits every tobacco farmer to develop round 1,750 kg per barn whereas the identical was restricted to 1,550 kg final yr. The farmers argue that they incur roughly the identical expenditure after they develop about 150 to 200 kg extra for each barn. However, the rise in costs of fertilizers is predicted to impression their bottomline.

According to sources within the tobacco business, the world below tobacco cultivation within the State would go up by round 3,000 hectares this yr as plenty of tobacco farmers, who experimented with ginger final yr, would return to tobacco. The space would go up from 70,000 hectares to round 73,000 hectares this time, Mr. Gowda mentioned.

Meanwhile, Joint Director of Agriculture, Mysuru, Mahantheshappa, mentioned the farmers can also improve the yield of tobacco by adopting superior farming methods with out essentially enlarging the world of cultivation in view of the enhancement in crop dimension.

However, Mr. Mahantheshappa mentioned the autumn in worth of ginger needn’t essentially push all of the farmers to return to tobacco. A great share can also be anticipated to go for maize, which is predicted to yield a great crop and a fairly remunerative worth in view of the rising demand from the poultry business.