The Hindu Business Line : Steep rise in firewood costs hits Andhra tobacco barn yields

Ongole (AP) April 15 Tobacco farmers, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, who account for a crop size of nearly 160 million kg, are now hit by a 10-15 per cent increase in production costs, mainly owing to dearth of farm labour and steep rise in per-tonne cost of firewood, the prime fuel used for curing the leaf in the barns.

Talking to Business Line here recently, Mr P. Veeraraghaviah, a veteran farmer in the region, said farm labour was becoming difficult to find, right from planting of seedling to grading stage (a minimum of some 50 man days are required per acre), as the farm hands find the booming construction sector far more attractive in terms of daily wages. He said while the farmers earn around Rs 80 per day in tobacco, in construction sites, they can get up to Rs 160-200. Admitting that ideally, greater farm mechanisation could be a way out of this labour shortage, he felt the prevailing prices in AP auctions did not leave much margins for investments on sophisticated machines, especially for pesticides spraying.

Yield falling

Pointing out that yield per hectare in tobacco farming in Prakasam district was declining owing to erratic rainfall pattern, Mr Veraraghaviah said there was still no viable alternative to the hardy tobacco crop. He said while the black cotton soils yielded 6-7 quintals per barn, in the light soils, it was 3-5 quintals.

Suggesting that the auction floors be redesigned to accommodate anything between 800 and 2,000 bales (per day), he said ideally, the platforms should be able to handle 1,000 bales (some 1-1.2 lakh kg per day), against the existing maximum of 600 bales, if competitive bidding has to be witnessed.

Asked for his views, Mr Rathna Sagar, Auction Superintendent at Tangatur platform, said one sure way of getting a higher price for better grades was when bidders come in with confirmed export orders. "We need to start with confirmed export orders and this will keep the market up and prices stable." He felt mega auction platforms, which can handle say 2,000 bales a day, can be a reality only when there are confirmed orders.

In the Ongole auctions, there are some 12 platforms, with crop coming in from as many as 13 village clusters.

Floor size

Admitting that some improvements in the platforms can be carried out immediately, Mr Venkitram Reddy, regional manager, Ongole, said the average size of the floor in each platform in the area was around 20,000 sq ft. The Tobacco Board has planned to install dehumidifiers in the floors to make it a little more comfortable for both growers and buyers in the summer months, and the job has been entrusted to a government-approved agency.

Commenting on various crop development activities taken up by the Board in collaboration with industry players and the Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry, he said a 25 per cent increase in yield can be achieved through improvement in quality of leaf in the Southern Light Soils of Andhra Pradesh. Farmers too need to be educated on the extension activities, he added.

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