By Almot Maqolo.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (News of The South) – The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) is currently carrying out a crop assessment to ascertain this year’s output, with 145 725 farmers have been registered to grow tobacco in the 2019/20 season, a 14% drop from 169 772 in the previous season.
Growing demand from China, the world’s biggest smoking nation and funding from private tobacco companies has helped boost output, which had plummeted in 2008.
The 2019/20 season is characterised by El-Nino induced drought which resulted in crop failure, livestock and wildlife deaths.
Latest data from the industry regulator shows that 7 472 new farmers had registered to grow the crop compared to 41 021 in 2018/19 cropping season. Registration is now closed. But, the majority of the growers are communal farmers who still believe tobacco is the only viable cash crop, in spite of its production being a challenging investment.
Of the 100 426 hectares area planted, 15 905 hectares is under irrigated tobacco while 84 521 hectares under dry land tobacco. In the previous period, area planted stood at 106 558.
TIMB chief executive officer Andrew Matibiri said the crop assessment will be out in two weeks’ time.
“On the expected yield, we are still conducting a crop assessment. So we don’t have the results yet, in other words I cannot tell you how much we are expecting. The crop assessment report will take two weeks because the season was very late and tobacco is still growing out,” he said.
In 2018, tobacco farmers delivered 252 million kilograms, an all-time record. Farmers are expected to produce between 220 and 240 million kg of the crop this year following a drought that hit yields in some areas. Last year’s earliest estimate of the crop was about 225 kilograms due to the effects of drought and late planting.
The opening of tobacco auctions, which is expected late next month, traditionally leads to improved foreign exchange inflows in the country as buyers bring in the greenback to purchase the crop.
As of last year, the country earned US$741 million from tobacco exports.
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