Andhra Pradesh   

"Tobacco is not a crop of future"

Special Correspondent

Special Correspondent

ONGOLE: Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jairam Ramesh, has asked the Tobacco Board to prepare an action plan to reduce the tobacco crop size by 50 per cent in the next 10 years by encouraging farmers to try other crops like Bengal gram, subabul, eucalyptus, jatropa etc.

Addressing a meeting of tobacco growers held here on Wednesday, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, felt the need to reduce the monopoly of ITC in tobacco trade either by allowing foreign direct investment or by introducing electronic system at auction floors.

He pointed out that Prakasam district accounted for 60 per cent of tobacco grown on 1.19 lakh hectares in Andhra Pradesh.

Saying that it is not a crop of the future, he appealed to farmers to diversify to other remunerative crops. He said that the farmers could switch over to paddy if they are provided with irrigation facilities under the Jalayagnam going on in the State. He also asked Tobacco Board to set up a Bio-technology Park in Prakasam district to demonstrate the cultivation of medicinal plants as an alternative to tobacco farming.

He said that the Central and State Governments would take up the responsibility of implementing the action plan to help tobacco growers switch over to other crops without facing many economic problems.

With the swollen foreign exchange reserves, the Government can afford to lose Rs. 1000 crore of foreign exchange earned through tobacco exports, he said.

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