Happy Times at last for Karnataka tobacco farmers

Karnataka's tobacco growers were a happy lot this year and were laughing their way to the bank after realising an all time high average price for their produce, better known as 'Mysore Virginia', in spite of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) pressure on India to discourage tobacco cultivation.

The tobacco farmers of the state had repeatedly suffered due to poor price and excess National production year after year, but this year their fortunes had taken a different turn. More than 90 per cent of tobacco grown in Karnataka was produced in Mysore district due to its conducive climate.

The decline in the global tobacco production, mainly in Zimbabwe and Brazil, had forced international cigarette manufacturers to make a beeline for the eight tobacco auction platforms in the state during 2006-07 and vie with each other for the Virginia flue cured (VFC) variety of tobacco.

Tobacco board officials told UNI that as much as 96.98 million kg of tobacco was sold during the year, with farmers realising an average price of Rs 55.94 a kg.

The state tobacco growers have sold tobacco at a record price of Rs 542.56 crore this year.

Not only had the quantum of tobacco transacted created a record, but also the average price per kg realised. Farmers' fears that the price would plummet on account of record production remained unfounded as they commanded a good price.

During 2005-2006, 82.91 million kg of tobacco was sold at an average price of Rs 48.06 a kg, realising Rs 398.48 crore in all the three varieties of tobacco - bright, medium and low grade which commanded a good price this year.

The bright variety, which accounted for 33.24 million kg at 34.28 per cent of the produce, was transacted at an average price of Rs 65.33 a kg.

The medium variety, which accounted for 40.06 million kg at 41.31 per cent, realised an average price of Rs 57.23 a kg and the low grade variety accounted for 23.67 million at Rs 40.58 a kg.

The officials said healthy price realisation for tobacco in Karnataka was mainly due to the decline in production in Zimbabwe and Brazil. The political instability in Zimbabwe was also one of the reasons for the slump in production, which had created a good demand for Indian tobacco.

Though Indian tobacco was generally used as neutral fillers to be added to the volume of tobacco in cigarettes, the low nicotine content in tobacco grown in the Mysore region made it attractive for the global cigarette manufacturers.

An estimated 42,000 farmers in Karnataka, concentrated in Hunsur, Periyapatna and H D Kote taluks in Mysore district, cultivate tobacco in around 80,000 hectares of land, which was largely rain-fed area.

India, a signatory to the framework convention on tobacco control sponsored by the WHO, was encouraging farmers to switch over to alternative commercial crops, but the question whether farmers would give up such a lucrative crop remains to be seen. It sought to gradually eliminate tobacco consumption that claimed ten million lives every year, by 2020.

Karnataka VFC Tobacco Growers’ Association president Jaware Gowda, also a member of the tobacco board, attributed the good socio-economic condition of the farmers of the region primarily to the tobacco crop.

''There is no viable alternative to tobacco, he claimed. Meanwhile, the association strongly opposed the state government's proposal to impose value added tax (VAT) on tobacco in the state.

Gowda contended that tobacco was produced at the farm level and was not a finished product.

''Any move to introduce vat on tobacco would reflect on the tobacco price and the brand image of 'Mysore tobacco'' would take a beating in the international market,'' he added.