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Excess crop in Karnataka -- Tobacco Board faulted

Our Bureau

GUNTUR, July 10

THE farmers in Karnataka have planted tobacco far in excess of the authorised area and the Tobacco Board and the Union Ministry of Commerce have done precious little to prevent it, Dr. Y. Sivaji, President of the AP Virginia Tobacco Farmers' Association, has said.

As against the authorised area of 20,000 hectares in that State, the farmers have grown the crop in 36,000 ha. In a statement issued here on Monday, he said the Tobacco Board had declared a crop holiday in Andhra Pradesh this year in view of the glut sit uation and authorised the farmers in Karnataka to raise 25 million kg only, as they were not willing to accept the demand for crop holiday like the Andhra Pradesh farmers.

The board had given a clear assurance to the Andhra Pradesh farmers that no excess crop would be allowed in Karnataka as it would have an adverse impact on the Andhra Pradesh market and that a punitive cess of 40 per cent would be levied on excess produc tion. But, he alleged that the board had taken no steps to issue a notification to that effect and to curb excess plantation at the nursery level itself.

In a letter to the Prime Minister sent on Saturday, Dr. Sivaji said the farmers in Andhra Pradesh were being deceived and the Karnataka farmers were also falling prey to the designs of certain vested interests in the trade. The Tobacco Board had failed m iserably in regulating the crop in Karnataka.

He said nearly 50 mkg of tobacco had been sold on the 21 auction floors in Andhra Pradesh at an average price of Rs. 35.81 a kg. The State Trading Corporation had bought 5.06 mkg at an average price of Rs. 38.23 a kg. The Tobacco Board had bought 9,000 k g of low-grade tobacco at the minimum support price of Rs. 12.75 a kg.