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Precious Manomano Herald Reporter
Tobacco farmers continue to benefit from the fruits of their hard work as they have so far pocketed over US$415 million from the sale of 116 396 269mkg of flue-cured tobacco at both auction and contract floors against last year’s 147 357 059mkg worth US$441 625 604.
Statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) indicate that a total of 6 696 210 kg worth US$24 982 145million have been sold through the auction floors while 109 700 059million kg worth US$390 224 150 million have been sold at contract floors.
The bulk of the crop sold so far came through the contract floors.
The average price has increased from US $3 per kg to US$3,58 this season marking a 19 percent increase.
The highest price at the auction is US$5,07 and US$6,99 at the contract sales.
The floors both the auction and contract ones have been busy with farmers flocking in to sell their tobacco and in the processs earn the country the much-needed foreign currency.
Tobacco deliveries have also increased and most farmers have finished processing their crop for sale.
The tobacco sector alone has the potential to anchor the Zimbabwean economy as it possesses huge opportunities for growth.
Tobacco Farmers Union Trust (TFUT) president Mr Victor Mariranyika said the marketing season is progressing well with farmers bringing good quality tobacco.
“No major challenges are currently faced by farmers because quality is not compromised. Our challenge is that the 75 percent foreign currency retention is not good for us as farmers considering the production costs that we incurred. We want this to be higher so that we embark well in other farming productions.
“The other issue is that more awareness campaigns on the ZiG currency need to be done so that farmers fully embrace our new currency. We hope this year we can produce more than what we anticipated. We have tobacco which is still green in the fields so our marketing season may stretch to July,” he said.
Mr Mariranyika urged farmers to insure their crop adding that farmers should not withdraw large sums of money at the same time to avoid criminals who target them.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association (ZTGA) chairman Mr George Seremwe said prices at the contract and auction floors are not bad but warned that some companies are delaying payments to farmers.
“The average prices are good and the season is not bad. We want farmers to get paid once they deliver their crops but this is not the case for some other companies. Contractors should fulfil their obligations to the farmers they contract,” he said.
Mr Seremwe also advised farmers to get adequate information adding that contractors should buy what they have financed.
TIMB recently warned growers and merchants against side marketing saying such malpractices will attract imprisonment, license withdrawals, or penalties.
Side marketing is blamed for the loss of millions of dollars annually and has the potential to kill the tobacco industry.
It is a form of breach of the law when auction tobacco is sold through auction floors in breach of Section 40 of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Act [Chapter 18:20].
Zimbabwe is among the top five major producers of flue-cured tobacco globally.
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