The Virginia tobacco auctions in Andhra Pradesh have entered the last phase and they are likely to conclude by the month-end, and so far 174.07 million kg (mkg) of tobacco has been sold on the auction floors at an average price of ₹97.15 a kg and 19.20 mkg of surplus crop still remains to be sold.
Manoj Dwivedi, Chairman of the Tobacco Board, held a review meeting here on Wednesday and instructed the officials to expedite the proceedings so that the remaining crop is sold as quickly as possible. The maximum price realised on the auction floors this season is ₹158/kg on the northern light soils in West Godavari district and the lowest price is ₹25 on the southern light soils in Prakasam district.
There was a hue and cry last month when two tobacco farmers committed suicide in Prakasam district due to low prices on the auction floors. A high-level meeting was convened by the Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Seetharaman and it was decided that the Centre should pay an additional ₹15/kg and the State government ₹5/kg to the low grade tobacco, if the price falls below ₹40 on the auction floors.