The Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco auctions in Karnataka for the crop season 2023-24 concluded on Saturday with the marketing of 88.86 million kg at an average price of ₹257.46 per kg.
The average prices during the year were not only higher by ₹29.45 per kg when compared to the average price of ₹228.01 last year, but also reveal that the average prices of tobacco had more than doubled during the last nine years from an average price of ₹107.49 realised during the year 2014-15.
Much of the FCV tobacco grown in Karnataka, mostly in Mysuru and parts of Hassan district, is export quality tobacco. The Tobacco Board has attributed the rise in average prices of tobacco over the last year to “buoyant market conditions”.