Farmers flock to tobacco

At least 66,554 ha of land had been put under tobacco in Zimbabwe as at the end of last week, according to a story in the Zimbabwe Herald quoting the industry regulator, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).

This season’s plantings are up by about 17.5 percent on those recorded at the comparable stage of the previous season, 56,623 ha.

Of the 66,554 ha planted this season, at least 51,998 ha comprised the dry land crop and the remainder the irrigated crop.

At the same time, the TIMB said that at least 80,327 farmers had registered to grow tobacco during the 2016/17 season, an increase of more than 14 percent on the 70,161 that had registered by the same stage of last season.

Of the registered growers, 38,217 are said to be communal farmers.

The Herald said that many farmers had been abandoning other cash crops for tobacco because of the favorable prices for tobacco.