March 15 season opening

Zimbabwe’s flue-cured tobacco marketing season has been scheduled to begin next month, according to a story in The News Day, Bulawayo.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) was quoted as saying that the 2017 auction tobacco marketing season would start on March 15, and that contract tobacco sales would start on March 16.

The TIMB said sales bookings would be open on March 1 to 6.

Earlier in the year, it had been hoped that this year’s sales season would start in the middle of February.

But, at the beginning of this month, TIMB CEO Dr. Andrew Matibiri was said to have told The Chronicle the board had not decided on an opening date because most farmers were not ready to sell their crops.

Incessant rains that had fallen across the country had negatively affected the farmers’ preparedness as far as reaping and curing were concerned, he said.

Nevertheless, a March 15 opening date is better than was achieved last year, when the season opened on March 30.