Plantings point to big irrigated crop

At least 14,041 ha had been put under irrigated tobacco in Zimbabwe by at the end of last week, according to a story in The Herald citing statistics released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

According to its weekly bulletin released on October 28, the TIMB said about 12,888 ha had been put under tobacco during the comparable period in 2015; so the 2016 plantings were up by about nine percent.

The TIMB said irrigated tobacco had been planted in the Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Midlands and Manicaland provinces.

Some farmers in Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West had started plating dry land tobacco also.

The TIMB report said that at least 67,493 farmers had so far registered to grow tobacco during the 2016/17 cropping season, nine percent more than the 62,114 farmers who had registered during the same period of the previous season.

Farmers are required by law to register to grow tobacco as well as to submit their crop estimates ahead of the marketing season.

At least 202 million kg of tobacco were sold during the 2016 marketing season, surpassing the 190 million kg target that the industry regulator had set.

The latest cropping season was characterized by drought, which resulted in farmers planting late, and the growing plants were heavily affected by dry spells.