November rain in south coastal A.P. kindles hope in tobacco farmers for good winter crop

The recent spell of rain under the influence of the active northeast monsoon has come as a boon for the tobacco farmers in the drought-prone south coastal Andhra Pradesh. The tobacco farmers, who could not cultivate crops to the full extent during the kharif due to deficient precipitation, say that they can now cultivate the crop in additional land during the winter.

The recent spell of rain under the influence of the active northeast monsoon has come as a boon for the tobacco farmers in the drought-prone south coastal Andhra Pradesh. The tobacco farmers, who could not cultivate crops to the full extent during the kharif due to deficient precipitation, say that they can now cultivate the crop in additional land during the winter.

‘‘The timely rains have kindled hopes in us. We can sow winter crops now,’‘ said a group of tobacco growers at Mangamooor village near Ongole during a conversation with The Hindu in the midst of brisk sowing operations. ‘‘Thanks to the shortage of the crop (tobacco) globally, we have got remunerative prices for our produce in the last two years. We are confident of getting handsome gains this year too,’‘ said V.V. Prasad, a farmer leader from Ongole.

After a brief lull in the middle of November, the south coastal Andhra region saw a revival of the northeast monsoon this week, aiding cultivation of the commercial crop in Prakasam and SPSR Nellore districts. Thanks to the increase in demand for tobacco seedlings, its price has gone up to ₹3,500 per bundle.

Farmers have raised tobacco seedlings in 41,600 hectares in the arid parts of the Prakasam and Nellore districts, said Tobacco Board Regional Manager M. Lakshmana Rao. Enthused by 40 mm rainfall in a fortnight, farmers have cultivated tobacco in 21,000 hectares in the SLS region and another 20,600 hectares in the SBS region so far.

The farmers hope for more rain until the December first week, with the weathermen forecasting a depression over the Bay of Bengal during the fag-end of November. Mr. Rao insisted that the farmers should stick to the crop size fixed by the crop regulator to get remunerative price.

Curing of the harvested leaves will start in the region from the second week of December. The tobacco growers witnessed a record price of ₹216.28 per kg on an average for 123 million kg of produce sold last year amid the shortage of crop globally.

‘‘We will be able to meet the crop size of 90 million kg fixed by the crop regulator easily and get record prices this season too,’‘ said T. Ramanaiah, farmer leader from Kandukur in Nellore district.