Tobacco Cultivation Banned for a Year in Bapatla

Vijayawada: In a move to address the ongoing tobacco sector crisis, Bapatla district collector J. Venkata Murali on Saturday announced a one-year ban on the cultivation of Black Burley and White Burley tobacco, as per G.O. No. 740.

At a review meeting with agriculture, revenue and police officials, the collector directed immediate and strict enforcement of the ban across the district, stressing that farmers must shift to alternative crops this year. Awareness programmes, including tom-tom announcements, will be conducted at the village level, he said.

Special enforcement teams have been formed at village, mandal, division, and district levels, while a district monitoring committee comprising senior officials will oversee the implementation, he said. “Not a single acre of tobacco should be cultivated. Even nurseries are prohibited. Cultivating tobacco covertly will attract stern action, the collector warned. He said 1,500 tonnes of Black Burley have already been procured through Markfed.

The collector announced that support for alternative crops would be provided to farmers. On fertilisers, he assured adequate supply of urea, DAP, pesticides and inputs. Warning traders against hoarding and black-marketing, he said twenty-five enforcement teams would conduct weekly inspections of fertiliser shops.

The meeting was attended by joint collector (incharge) G. Gangadhar Goud, district agriculture officer Subrahmanyeswara Rao, agriculture AD Annapurna, and other revenue, agriculture and police officials.