Category: Leaf

  • Zimbabwe: Commercial Shisha Hectars Increase

    Zimbabwe: Commercial Shisha Hectars Increase

    Image: KPad

    Zimbabwe’s shisha flue-cured tobacco commercial production increased 270 percent to 407 hectares this season, according to Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) statistics, reports The Herald.

    Last year, 101,559 kg of shisha were marketed at an average of $3.15 per kilogram. It reached a high price of $5.40 per kilogram.

    Currently, Cavendish Lloyd is the only TIMB registered and licensed shisha merchant.

    “Consideration of the dreaded El Nino weather pattern led to farmers planting 407 hectares, a figure less than the planned over 500 this season,” said Tinashe Mukadzambo, Cavendish Lloyd CEO. “In our maiden commercial season last year, we did 110 hectares from 10 commercial growers.”

    More commercial, semi-commercial and small-scale growers, in addition to the 10 commercial growers, were added this year, said Mukadzambo.

    Tobacco Reporter profiled Cavendish Lloyd’s operations in its May 2022 print edition (see “Great Expectations”).

  • Pakistan Growers Reject Purchasing Price

    Pakistan Growers Reject Purchasing Price

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tobacco growers in Pakistan have rejected the PKR505 ($1.80) per kg tobacco purchasing price set by the Ministry of Commerce for the upcoming marketing season, reports Dawn.

    During a Jan. 13 meeting in the Dagi, Swabi District, grower representatives blasted the Pakistan Tobacco Board for being partial to tobacco buyers in price negotiations. They also accused the purchasing companies of negotiating in bad faith.

    The growers’ leaders demanded that the per-kg tobacco rate should be fixed in proportion to the prevailing record inflation and the high expenditures incurred on production of the crop.

    Grower representative Arif Ali recalled that the companies bought tobacco from growers at PKR425 per kg at initial stage in the 2023 season, but the market price later jumped to PKR1,200 per kg. He said the firms had also failed to fulfil a promise to pay arrears at the end of the season as per the final rate.

    The growers are now planning sit-ins outside the gates of the tobacco purchase centers in the production areas. They also threatened to switch to other crops if their demands were not met.

  • Malawi Extends Grower Registration Deadline

    Malawi Extends Grower Registration Deadline

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Malawi’s Tobacco Commission (TC) has extended the registration and licensing period for tobacco growers until Jan. 31, reports The Nyasa Times.  

    TC spokesperson Telophorus Chigwenembe said the extension period will allow farmers who missed the December deadline to obtain the proper documentation.

    The regulator has also waved late registration penalties and will allow farmers to pay the associated fees after the sale of their tobacco this year.

    The TC said it would conduct its first crop estimates in February for the upcoming growing season.

  • Zimbabwe Farmers Start Season on a High

    Zimbabwe Farmers Start Season on a High

    Image: Taco Tuinstra

    As of Jan. 5, 2024, tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe have narrowed the planting gap to within 5 percent of the 2023 hectarage, according to The Herald. The hectarage in 2023 was 27 percent shy of 2022 figures.

    The area planted in for the 2023/2024 season has been smaller than the area for the previous season since Nov. 24, according to Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) statistics.

    Farmers planted a total of 103,652 ha under both dryland and irrigated tobacco across the country.

    This season, 112,916 growers have registered compared to 147,748 in the same period last year. Of registered growers, 93 percent are contracted, according to the TIMB.

    Zimbabwe’s government has extended the date for destruction of tobacco seedbeds to Jan. 15. This season’s planted area could exceed last year’s, according to some farmers.

    “As farmers, we are happy with the current weather pattern and believe that we can slightly exceed last year’s hectarage,” said George Seremwe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association, referring to the current wet weather pattern. “Tobacco requires water and a lot of heat units, which is good in terms of the quality of the crop.”

    “The combined influence of extended planting dates and wet weather conditions from around the Christmas period will likely result in this season’s planted area coming close to or surpassing last year’s,” said Victor Mariranyika, president of the Tobacco Farmers Union Trust. “We thank the government for moving planting dates in response to climate change with the crop generally looking good after the rains, which fell after Christmas.”

    In 2023, Zimbabwe saw record crop yield, and the sector expects another positive season this year. The country’s target for this year is 148,500 ha.

    “We are looking at two fundamentals: the hectarage and the potential yield, and with what is on the ground, we are likely to have a good season,” said Emmanuel Matsvaire, acting TIMB CEO. “Information that we have received so far shows that 136,000 ha have been planted, but we still have some districts that have not submitted the figures.”

  • Tanzania Tobacco Crop Size Up

    Tanzania Tobacco Crop Size Up

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tanzania’s tobacco crop increased to 122.86 million kg in the 2023-2024 growing season, reports Daily News, citing a statement from Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe. As of December 2022, Tanzania had earned $316 million from tobacco exports. The country aims to sell $400 million this season.

    Bashe expressed confidence that Tanzania would produce 200 million kg in 2024-2025

    Tanzania’s recent production figures make it Africa’s second-largest producer after Zimbabwe, which harvested nearly 300 million kg in the 2022-2023 season. Other prominent African tobacco producers are Malawi 121 million kg), Mozambique (65.8 million kg), Zambia (44 million kg) and Uganda (13 million kg).

    Bashe applauded Tanzania’s farmers’ associations and tobacco companies, stating that for the first time more than 50 percent of tobacco has been bought and sold abroad by local companies.

    “It was not an easy journey,” he said. “I thank all the Tobacco Board workers; we dreamed, we did it, keep pushing. We will become Africa’s No 1 producer.”

  • Tobacco Production up in Bangladesh

    Tobacco Production up in Bangladesh

    Image: Swapan

    Tobacco production is up in Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat District following last year’s good prices, reports The Financial Express. In 2022, the price of one “mound” of Virginia tobacco leaves was between BDT6,000 ($54.71) and BDT7,000.

    According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, farmers have cultivated tobacco on 7,600 hectares of land in the district this season. Farmers suspect the actual figure is higher, given the prices on offer.

    Critics expressed concerns about the social and environmental impact of tobacco production, citing excessive use of fertilizer and crop protection agents along with the impact on workers’ health.

    “We discourage farmers and tell them about the health risks of family members, but because of the high income, they are interested in tobacco cultivation,” said Hamidur Rahaman, deputy director of the Lalmonirhat Department of Agricultural Extension.

  • Cuba Pushing Renewable Energy

    Cuba Pushing Renewable Energy

    TabaCuba the state-run arm of Cuban cigar production, announced that it would increase its use of renewable energy sources in several of its facilities in Pinar del Rio, Cuba’s largest tobacco leaf-producing province.

    All tobacco export factories should have this type of equipment in the first half of this year, TabaCuba’s president, Marino Murillo, told the Cuban News Agency.

    Artemisa, Villa Clara and the westernmost territory already have the type of equipment to increase productivity.

    According to the official, pre-industrial processes and irrigation to save energy carriers with submersible pumps are the priority.

    He also stated that they are betting on renewable energy sources so that the productive processes do not stop in the event of an interruption of electricity services.

  • Cash to ‘Marginalized’ Philippine Growers

    Cash to ‘Marginalized’ Philippine Growers

    Photo: Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co.

    The Philippines’ National Tobacco Board (NTA) has allocated about PHP17 million ($306,077) to assist marginalized tobacco growers in Ilocos Norte, reports the Philippine New Agency.

    At least 160 beneficiaries from the towns of Pinili, Batac and Badoc received their respective PHP6,000 grant on Thursday. The next distribution will continue until all the target recipients have received their cash assistance.

    The grant targets growers who are tilling lots of 0.5 hectare and below to reduce their production cost. The assistance will cover the cost of fertilizers, crop protection agents, seedlings, suckercides, land preparation, gas and oil, fuelwood and labor.

    Tobacco-growing provinces and municipalities in the Philippines collect their share from tobacco excise tax collections based on the volume of leaves produced by their local tobacco growers.

    The NTA also provides assistance for rice production, improved tobacco seedlings production and beef cattle production.

  • Rain Sparks Planting Frenzy in Zimbabwe

    Rain Sparks Planting Frenzy in Zimbabwe

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Recent rains have raised hopes that farmers will be able to meet or surpass Zimbabwe’s target of planting148,500 hectares of tobacco for the 2023-2024 growing season, reports The Herald.

    Statistics released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) revealed that by Dec. 15, growers had planted 55,170 hectares of tobacco, 27 percent less than in the previous year. Zimbabwe has been suffered from drought at the start of the growing season.

    The return of rains has sparked a planting frenzy, however, making it likely that the crop’s hectarages will increase significantly over the coming days.

    Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association Chairman George Seremwe expressed confidence that the drop in planted area will be reversed.

    Zimbabwe Tobacco Association CEO Rodney Ambrose said the recent rains have also boosted the already established crops that were starting to show signs of moisture stress.

  • Research Board Warns for Crop Disease

    Research Board Warns for Crop Disease

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Research Board (TRB) has advised tobacco growers to watch for crop diseases in the wake of heavy rains, reports  The Herald.

    When not properly managed, pests and diseases can drastically reduce yield and quality of tobacco. There are three key foliar diseases that are of major concern—angular leaf spot, frogeye leaf spot and Alternaria leaf spot. However, the TRB has established that a group of fungicides collectively known as strobilurins can be effective against both frogeye and Alternaria leaf spot diseases.

    In addition to the risk of crop disease, the heavy rains are presenting extra challenges, such as weed control and ridge maintenance.

    “One of the major challenges is leaching, a condition where elements such as nitrogen and potassium are washed beyond the root zone, making it impossible for the crop to access them, and deficiency symptoms may develop,” said George Seremwe, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association.

    “Incessant rainfall patterns tend to lead to excessive soil moisture content, which promotes unlimited nutrient loss due to leaching, resulting in poor quality leaf,” said Victor Mariranyika, president of the Tobacco Farmers Union Trust. “It also disturbs other farm operations, thereby compromising profitability, with human resources and machinery possibly failing to cope.”

    Over 19,000 hectares have been put under irrigated tobacco crop in Zimbabwe for the 2023–2024 summer crop season, according to The Sunday Mail. This represents a 22 percent decline from the previous year.

    Statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) showed that 19,202 ha have been planted compared to the previous year’s 18,901 ha.

    Currently, 112,906 growers have registered with the TIMB.

    Tobacco is Zimbabwe’s largest agricultural export and second-largest single commodity export after gold.