ONGOLE: To augment the income of tobacco farmers, AP State Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited (Markfed) officials on Wednesday participated in tobacco auction held at Ongole-2 (Throvagunta) Tobacco Auction Centre in Prakasam district.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the Markfed to participate in the ongoing auction and purchase tobacco from the farmers to provide good price for their yield. Tobacco Board chairperson Y Raghunatha Babu inaugurated the auction.
The Markfed authorities, having started their tobacco purchases formally, will participate in the regular auction at auction centres in the district from Thursday. To this end, Markfed MD Pradyumna offered Rs 85 per kg as the opening price for low grade (F-5) and light medium green (LMG, F-8) grade quality tobacco.
If no one quotes more than the federation’s price, the entire stock will be purchased by the Markfed. Similarly, the officials quoted Rs 100 per kg for F-4 grade quality stock and Rs 130 to Rs 140 per kg for F-3 grade quality stock as the opening prices.