The Centre on Wednesday approved Rs 28.11 crore relief funds to 28,112 tobacco farmers, whose farms were submerged under water due to Cyclone Mandous, in Andhra Pradesh's Palnadu, Prakasam and Nellore districts.
The relief funds approved will be provided to the Tobacco farmers in terms of interest-free crop loans. Union Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal on Wednesday has given nod to the request made by board's executive director Addanki Sridhar Babu. Each member of the board will receive Rs 10,000 as a special interest-free crop loan. The measure will help tobacco farmers to overcome the damage inflicted by heavy rains induced by Cyclone Mandous, said the PIB release.
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Tobacco is a major crop grown in 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh with an annual production of 121 m.kg grown in over 66,000 hectares in these districts. The release further said that the interest-free loans to eligible tobacco growers will be administered by the board.
Meanwhile, the board executive director Sridhar Babu also requested the special chief secretary to government and district collectors of Prakasam, Palnadu, Bapatla and Nellore to provide relief funds through State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
"The teams of six scientists of Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), Rajamahendravaram and officers and staff of Tobacco Board visited cyclone-affected fields and advised the farmers on immediate damage mitigation measures to be taken up," Sridhar Babu said as quoted by Times of India.
Tobacco growers sell their produce through an e-auction platform developed and operated by the Tobacco Board, through a transparent process ensuring fair and remunerative prices to farmers, said an ANI report.