The Hindu Business Line : Tobacco farmers oppose crop deregulation

The Andhra Pradesh Tobacco Growers' Association is opposed to deregulation of tobacco cultivation and doing away with fixing of the crop size by the Tobacco Board, a step suggested by the Prabhir Sengupta Committee, according to Dr Y. Sivaji, President of the AP Tobacco Growers' Association.

At a press meet here on Friday, he said the Union Government had convened a meeting of the chief secretaries of the two major tobacco growing States - Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka - earlier this week to discuss the recommendations of the committee.

"A delegation of the members of AP Tobacco Growers' Association visited New Delhi on December 2 and 3 and explained to the Union Commerce Secretary the perils of the proposed deregulation of tobacco cultivation. The meeting was cancelled due to the pressure exerted by us, but we are still apprehensive that in future it may be revived. The trade is all for deregulation," he said.

Recounting the history of the Tobacco Board, Dr Sivaji said it had been established in the seventies by passing an Act in Parliament after a prolonged struggle by the farmers. "Regulation has mitigated the plight of the farmer to an extent. Though he is still not getting his due, if the crop is deregulated, he will completely at the mercy of the trade. Further, there are so many restrictions on the consumption of tobacco that if crop production is deregulated, it will create a mismatch between demand and supply. That will be to the advantage of the trade," he argued.

`Allow FDI'

While opposing crop deregulation, he said FDI should be allowed in the tobacco sector and the foreign leaf merchants should be allowed on Indian auction floors. "That will benefit farmers and the Indian trade will also become globally competitive," he said.

He also said any move to shift the headquarters of the Tobacco Board from Guntur will be opposed and in the late seventies such an attempt had been made by the then Commerce Minister, Mr Mohan Dharia, by bringing about an amendment to the Indian Tobacco Board Act, but that had been defeated. "We oppose any such move. The board should be in the major tobacco growing area and it should be accessible to the farmers," he said.

He also pleaded that sulphate or potash (SOP), widely used in tobacco cultivation, should be subsidised. "It is at present costing Rs 800 for a bag of 50 kg. Subsidy of Rs 6,000 per tonne should be given to SOP, as it is being given to murate of potash. The annual consumption of SOP is a meagre 25,000 tonnes and, therefore, the financial burden on the Union Government will only be Rs 15 crore or so, but it will greatly benefit the tobacco farmer," he said.

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