The Tobacco Board has agreed to increase the minimum guarantee price by INR 4 (EUR 0.06) per kg to farmers of F1 grade from the current INS 120 (EUR 1.88).

According to the Business Standard, this was decided after board Chairman G Kamalavardhana Rao held meetings with representatives of farmers and traders.
Farmers of flue-cured Virginia in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, have been insisting on remunerative price after traders offered INR 112.98 per kg – compared to INR 119.9 in the 2010 season. Traders said that prices in global markets have come down due to surplus output in the last two years and that there was not much demand for Indian tobacco in international markets like Brazil and Zimbabwe. (pi)