Ongole: Protect interests of farmers instead of companies, Tobacco Board told

Ongole: The tobacco farmers demanded the Tobacco Board to act on their behalf in true spirit but not the vested interests of the corporate companies.

A number of farmers representatives from the auction centers in Prakasam district participated in the meeting held by the Development Organization for Socioeconomic Change in Prakasam district in Ongole on Monday.

The speakers including the president of the organization Chunduri Rangarao, farmers representatives from auction centers R Venkateswara Rao, Abburi Seshagiri Rao, Raavi Umamaheswara Rao, Talla Venkateswara Rao, Cherukuri Vasu, Katta Jayamma, Gudipudi Narayana, GV Subbaiah, Chunduri Srinivasa Rao, Patibandla Anil Kumar, Sirigiri Venkata Subbaiah, Chunduri Venkayamma, Chunduri Subbarao, Pentyala Hanumantha Rao and others demanded that the Tobacco Board make the next production policy in favour of the farmers. They observed that the Tobacco Board is meeting on August 5 to fix the extent and quantity of tobacco crop for the next year and they demanded it to consider the plight of the farmers they are going through now.

The speakers claimed that it is taking about 100 days to grow tobacco, but more than 200 days to sell it through the auction. They opined that the board has failed to take a favourable decision and implement it to complete the auction in 100 days, though many representations are given in the last 20 years. The farmers said that the buyers didn't come forward for the first two months of the auction in 2020, and the company which enjoys the monopoly purchased the bright grades tobacco at just Rs 140 per kg. The farmers who sold their bales then suffered a huge loss of at least Rs 40 per kg, by the time the MARKFED started to purchase in the last few days. They alleged that the Tobacco Board failed in its prime responsibility of seeing the farmers get better prices all the time, by just protecting the interests of the corporate companies.

The farmers said that the farmers in Karnataka are ploughing the land in shortage of workers in the COVID-19 pandemic season now and the governments are not sure about the future conditions. They questioned the rationale in the hurry of the tobacco board to fix the production policy when there is ample time to start the crop. They advised the board to announce a crop holiday, if the Coronavirus conditions are to continue in the near future than killing the farmers due to losses in the next season. If the government could assure that the COVID-19 can be controlled in coming next 20 days, they advised the board to fix the quantity to nearly 100 million KGs to get some demand for the crop. They thanked the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and former Ongole MP YV Subbareddy for ordering the MARKFED to purchase the tobacco and requested them to take necessary action to provide better prices for the Burley tobacco farmers also.