Overview

• Tobacco farmers are reeling after prices plunged from ₹360 to ₹240 per kilogram for graded leaf under the current government.
• Two growers in Prakasam district died by suicide as financial strain deepened without state intervention.
• Despite a 20% expansion in cultivation, the government has procured only 40 million tonnes of tobacco against a projected 220 million tonnes.
• YSRCP leader Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has threatened an agitation to press for a minimum support price secured by Markfed participation.
• Closure of RBK centres and delayed state funding under the Rythu Bharosa scheme have left farmers without quality seeds, marketing services and crop support across multiple commodities.