India has cut the 2026-27 FCV crop to 81 million kg

The Tobacco Board has reduced the authorised Flue-Cured Virginia crop size for Andhra Pradesh to 81 million kg for the 2026-27 season, down from 142 million kg. That is a cut of roughly 43 percent, and it is a deliberate response to what happened in the season just ending.

What the 2025-26 season actually did

Against an authorised crop of 142 million kg, Andhra Pradesh produced an estimated 236 million kg. Growers planted well past the authorised figure, and the market absorbed the consequence.

By 24 September 2026, 111.64 million kg had been marketed across 148 auction days, with the average realisation sitting at Rs 213.27 per kg. The final average for 2024-25 was Rs 248.86 per kg. Quality grades held up better than the average suggests, with Northern Light Soils material fetching around Rs 346 per kg in later auctions, but the headline number fell.

The Centre subsequently permitted excess FCV from registered growers, and unauthorised FCV from unregistered growers, to be sold through Tobacco Board auction platforms. That measure is estimated to be worth around Rs 226 crore to growers and was intended to clear the overhang rather than leave it sitting in sheds.

Why the cut matters to a buyer

A 43 percent reduction in authorised area is not a forecast. It is an administrative decision already taken, and it applies to the crop that will be marketed through 2027.

Two things follow from that. The first is that the pricing seen in the 2025-26 auctions reflects a glut that is being deliberately drained, so it is a poor basis for a 2027 budget. The second is that growers do not always plant to the authorised figure, as this season demonstrated in the other direction, so the 81 million kg number should be read as intent rather than as a guaranteed outcome.

Where this does and does not touch Charotar leaf

We should be plain about this. LR Tobacco does not grow or trade FCV. Our material is Charotar leaf from the Gujarat belt, grown rainfed, along with bidi patti, refuse, rava, dust and stems. FCV is a different crop, a different belt and a different buyer.

What the Tobacco Board decision does is move the conversation. When the authorised Indian FCV crop halves, buyers reassess Indian origin generally, and enquiries that start with FCV frequently end up looking at what else India produces.

If you are building a 2027 position and want to understand how Charotar material prices and tests against the FCV grades you normally buy, send us the specification and we will quote against current stock with the tested figure for the lot.

Sources: Tobacco Board auction reporting via Deccan Chronicle and The Hans India, September 2026. Figures as reported on 24 September 2026.