E-auctions began in three Southern Black Soil(SBS) auction platforms in Prakasam district on Wednesday amid fears of falling prices in the wake of the global economic crisis accentuated further by coronavirus outbreak.
Six firms made bids on the opening day in Ongole II, Tangutur I and II auction platforms as Tobacco Board Secretary A. Sridhar Babu oversaw the process.
Farmers, who brought nine bales realised an average price of ₹170 per kg in Ongole II, while their counterparts who marketed 18 bales each in Tangutur I and Tangutur II got ₹169.05 per kg and ₹168.13 per kg respectively, Tobacco Board SBS Regional Manager G. Umamaheswara Rao said.
Farmers in the traditional tobacco growing areas coming under SBS and Southern Light Soil(SLS) auction platforms are a worried lot in view of the uncertainty over the global demand for the produce this year as the outbreak of the novel virus came at the time of marketing.
The Tobacco Board should speed up the auctions and ensure participation of a good number of exporters to facilitate liquidating of the stock early, demanded Ongole II Farmers Association secretary V.V. Prasad.
They were expecting to make good the losses incurred last year following severe drought, following rains at the time of sowing this year. The excess rains had adversely affected the quality of the crop, he said, adding medium and low grade varieties accounting for 70% of the total crop.
The crop production has been estimated at over 95 million kg in SLS and SBS auction platforms, according to sources in the trade.
Flue-cured tobacco produced here are used in major cigarette blends overseas and the outbreak of the novel virus is likely to adversely affect the prices for different tobacco varieties by 10 to 20%, they say.
The farmers were a disappointed lot as they were expecting a price of ₹180 to ₹200 per kg for bright grade to start with.
E-auctions in the traditional tobacco growing areas are expected to pick up later this month when the ongoing auctions in Karnataka are expected to conclude.
