Zimbabwean tobacco growers have planted 2,107 ha of dryland tobacco to date this season, reports The Herald, citing data from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
According to TIMB spokesperson Chelesani Tsarwe, 133,724 farmers have registered to grow tobacco this season compared to 111,063 during the same period last year.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union President Shadreck Makombe told The Herald that tobacco planting was progressing well.
“Dry land tobacco farmers have started planting especially in those areas where the rains fell,” he said. “We will see planting activities intensifying, especially as we go forward from next week onward.”
The area put under irrigated tobacco was 10,483 ha as of Nov. 1, bringing the total hectarage under tobacco to 12,590 ha.
Despite efforts to diversify into other products, tobacco remains one of Zimbabwe’s greatest generators of foreign currency.
During the 2022 tobacco marketing season, Zimbabwe earned USD650 million from tobacco sales, up from USD589 million the previous year.