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Business Reporter

TOBACCO farmers have expressed readiness for the forthcoming 2020 marketing season, which is set to boost the country’s foreign currency inflows.

Some growers have already cured and graded the irrigated crop ahead of the opening of auction floors.

Tobacco is grown in seven regions with and Matabeleland farmers still struggling to find footing in venturing into the sector.

Although the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) is yet to announce the date for the opening of this year’s selling season, trading normally begins in March.

Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) executive director Mr Paul Zakariya said the first crop from irrigated yields would soon be finding its way to the auction floors with the rain-fed crop expected to be delivered at the floors around April or May.

Karoi-based tobacco farmer, Mr Pardon Mhuri, who intends to roll-out a seedling scheme in Matabeleland region, said his crop was ready for sale. “We are now at curing stage but the other part of the crop is ready for sale as we have finished curing and grading,” he said.

“When there is a shortage on the international market, the price is always high. Other factors such as the quality and volumes will affect pricing.”

In the past farmers have raised concern over depressed prices at the auction floors amid reports some international merchants were still holding onto stocks and were reluctant to buy. China is Zimbabwe’s largest consumer of flue-cured tobacco. Farmers have since called for improved efficiency in payment modalities for their crop. The RBZ had promised farmers would receive 50 percent of the proceeds in US-dollars with the remainder converted at the prevailing interbank market rate into Zimbabwe dollar accounts.

“If it happened it was just a few farmers who got the US dollars, the rest of the farmers did not,” said Mr Zakariya.

“Managing accounts was a bit of a challenge on the part of farmers based in rural areas who needed more knowledge. Juggling between two accounts was a challenge.”

Farmers have also complained over congestion, slow processes and unhygienic standards at the floors.

“We want to hope that in the coming marketing season, these issues would have been resolved. We are meeting with some of the stakeholders and raising the concerns and we want to hope that when the floors open, the sales system will be seamless and farmers will spend very little time at the floors to get value of their crop,” said Mr Zakariya.

Meanwhile, tobacco output is expected to decline by 13 percent to 225 million kilogrammes this year from a record high of 259 kg in the last season due to drought. The 2019/20 summer cropping season has been hit hard by the extremely hot weather conditions, which have affected output across the agriculture sector. Zimbabwe generates an estimated US$1 billion annually from exporting the golden leaf across different parts of the world.