Permit sale of tobacco produced by unauthorised growers, says Pratap Simha

Pratap Simha, Mysuru-Kodagu MP, urged Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal to permit the sale of tobacco produced by unauthorised tobacco growers in Karnataka from the beginning of the auction with nil penalties during the 2023-24 crop season.

According to the MP, flue-cured tobacco is the major commercial crop cultivated in the Mysuru region. Around 40,000 authorised and 11,000 unregistered farmers are cultivating the crop in the region for their livelihood.

In a memorandum to the Minister, Mr. Simha, who met Mr. Goyal in New Delhi, said Karnataka tobacco growers have suffered partial or complete crop loss due to the delayed onset of monsoon. Crop growth is uneven and not satisfactory due to prolonged drought conditions during the grand growth period. This circumstance led to a drop in productivity and impacted the financial status of the farmers since tobacco is the only source of their livelihood, he explained.

With all these challenges, the total production in the 2023-24 crop season from both authorised and unauthorised growers will be 75 to 80 m kilos as against the authorised permitted quantity of 100 m kilos. Penalising the unauthorised production even after a significant reduction in productivity levels due to weather aberrations will keep farmers under distress conditions which may further impact the farmers’ economics, he argued.

In this backdrop, the MP urged the Minister to consider the plight of Karnataka tobacco and extend support to the farming community by waiving off the penalties for tobacco produced by unauthorized farmers and allow these growers to sell their produce from the beginning of the auction during 2023-24 crop season.