Golden leaf growers rise

Kudakwashe Ruzive

MORE than 117 000 tobacco farmers have registered with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) to grow the crop this year up from 111 000 who had registered by the same time last year.

Latest data from TIMB shows that communal farmers account for more than half of the registrants at 62 116, followed by A1 growers at 37 095.

A further 5 856 small-scale commercial farmers and 5 996
A2 tobacco growers have registered.

As at October 29, nearly 21 000 hectares of land had been put under the golden leaf up from 16 000 hectares during the same period last year.

TIMB public relations officer Ms Chelesani Moyo told The Sunday Mail that registration was ongoing.

“The decentralisation of our regional offices across the country has helped to decongest traffic to Harare,” she said.

“Farmers are now able to register for new grower numbers or to renew their old grower numbers at these decentralised locations across the country thereby cutting down transport costs on their part.”

In Harare, tobacco growers are registering at the TIMB Southerton headquarters, while registration is ongoing at the board’s provincial offices in Chinhoyi, Karoi, Bindura, Mvurwi, Marondera, Rusape and Mutare.

The tobacco planting season opened on September 1.

Farmers are required to register with TIMB in terms of Section 25 of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Levy Act (Chapter 18:20).

Preliminary projections show that Zimbabwe will harvest more than 200 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf this season.