Auctions resumed promisingly in traditional tobacco growing areas in Nellore and Prakasam counties after a 16-day hiatus as the intensity of COVID-19 subsided in the south coast of Andhra Pradesh.
In an effort to liquidate existing inventory and fear product quality degradation as the southwest monsoon sets in, farmers brought up over 6,000 bales for sale on the 11 auction platforms in the Southern Light Soil (SLS) and Southern Black Soil (SBS) regions Tuesday evening.
‘Good quality’
“After a gap of several years, we have a good harvest quality. We will have to burn our fingers if the auctions are further delayed due to the coronavirus, ”said a Kondepi farmer, Fr. Bhadri Reddy, as he waited for buyers while the sky remained overcast.
“Only domestic cigarette manufacturers are active on the market, while the exporters have selectively bought the bales to their taste. The latter still take a wait-and-see attitude on the pretext of not confirming orders from foreign buyers, ”complained a farmer, Ramanjaneyulu, on the Ongole II auction platform.
The farmers urged the Tobacco Committee to ensure that exporters enter the market at full speed during the auctions, which were exposed after some employees and “Hamalis” were infected with the virus.
The situation was relatively better this year, despite the partial curfew, as farmers faced poor quality crops last year when the total lockdown hampered the auctions that coincided with the main marketing season.
When the auctions were suspended from May 14th this year, the farmers in the two districts had marketed 21 million kg and achieved an average price of 159.95 per kg, compared to 12.7 million kg in the corresponding period of the previous year were sold at an average price of 144.77 per kg, Tobacco Committee sources said.
Flavors F1, F2 and F3 made up the majority of sales this year, fetching a better price of 178.80 per kg, 169.10 per kg and 147.30 per kg, respectively, compared to last year’s price of 169.50 per kg, 169.90 per kg and ₹ 134.30 per kg for the respective varieties.
“Markfed Action a Worry”
While the light and medium varieties attracted buyers, there were no buyers for the inferior varieties after the Markfed, which entered the market and bought around 12.9 million kg, of which 11.9 million kg in SBS and SLS regions their stocks now online for traders.
“We are concerned about the impact of the Markfed’s actions on the market if we have difficulty selling our products,” complained a group of farmers from the Ongole II auction platform.
Farmers in the SBS region have so far marketed 10.60 million kg at an average price of 156.68 yen and their colleagues in the SLS region have marketed 11.11 million kg at an average price of 162.30 yen per kg, the plant inspectorate said With.