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Lynn Murahwa
The Tobacco Research Board (TRB) has removed 11 agrochemicals from its tobacco approved and recommended list and is discouraging all tobacco farmers from using the chemicals.According to the TRB a number of effective and widely used agrochemicals have been removed from the approved list based on international trends.
TRB communications representative Takudzwa Gweshe told BH24 on the sidelines of the Harare Agricultural Show last week that the chemical pesticides that have been removed from the recommended list have proved to have undesirable effects on the plants and soil.
“We have noticed several anomalies in these chemicals and their adverse effects on the plants as well as the soil,” he said.
He said the scientists at TRB have advised farmers to adopt chemicals that are environmentally friendly.
“We recommend chemicals that are environmentally friendly and that encourage good growth of tobacco,” he said.
Gweshe said the TRB is doing all it can to ensure accurate and updated information is avail-able for farmers in the industry.
“When it comes to pests and diseases we try to be on top of everything as we work very close with the Government seeing as though originally we were a wing of the Government before becoming a parastatal,” he said.
He said it is important to support the manufactures as they put more effort in marketing local products.
“Most of these are locally available because we try as much as possible to promote local companies since we take into consideration the economy as a whole. We actually have taken a stance to promote our locally produced goods and we market them the most,” he said. The TRB is encouraging tobacco farmers to embrace locally manufactured chemicals to support local industry.
“The local products have been tried and tested in Zimbabwe and we are encouraging our farmers to embrace the locally manufactured products that we have approved,” he said.
He said the agrochemicals that they have approved for use in the industry are readily available in the country as the majority of them are locally manufactured.
“All the products that we have approved are ready and available on the market, so farmers should familiarise themselves with the list as they stock up. We know that it may take time to wean farmers off the chemicals they were used to as all systems take time,” he said. – BH24
Online Reporter