The Tobacco Board of India has fixed this year’s Karnataka flue-cured crop at 100 million kg, the same as last year’s quota, according to the Hindu Business Line.

Growers were demanding a crop size of 120 million kg. But as India is a signatory to WHO initiatives to cut down area under tobacco, Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi, Member of Parliament and Tobacco Board member, announced that action will be taken "on unauthorised cultivation instead of increasing the area under the crop”.

Karnataka has 85,000 hectares under cultivation and on average produces 120 to 130 million kg annually. The state is the second largest producer of tobacco in India after Andhra Pradesh. (pi)