Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are urging the state government to advocate for a rollback of recent excise duty increases on cigarettes. They argue the steep, unprecedented hike will destabilize the legal tobacco market, reduce government revenue, and severely impact farmer livelihoods by making Indian cigarettes unaffordable and encouraging illicit trade. Farmers fear this could lead to a significant increase in illegal cigarette sales, potentially leaving them without buyers for their produce.