adminElita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter—
Zimbabwe has earned $670 million from tobacco exports as China continues to be the major market destination, statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board have revealed.Zimbabwe exported 45,2 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf worth $373 million to China at an average price of $8,75 per kg.
This is an increase from the 32,7 million kg of tobacco worth $267 million exported to China during the same period last year.
South Africa has also maintained its position as the major African market destination for Zimbabwean tobacco. Zimbabwe’s southern neighbour imported 19,3 million kg of the crop worth $56,4 million at an average price of $2,93 per kg.
Countries offering the highest prices were New Zealand ($9,75 per kg), Holland ($8,71 per kg), Philippines ($6,94 per kg) and Iran ($6,49 per kg).
TIMB technical officer for Manicaland Mr Vine Zungu said Zimbabwean tobacco was in high demand and farmers should produce the crop accroding to market requirements to get high prices.
At a training workshop held in Rusape yesterday, Mr Zungu said every buyer or merchant had a specific requirements and farmers should always be up to date with market information.
“Our market is shifting from the West to the East with China being our major buyer. The Chinese prefer lemon tobacco and farmers should ensure they produce a crop that meets the specifications of the buyers to get favourable prices.
“Farmers should carefully select the correct variety suitable for their areas to come up with a high quality crop that attracts high prices on the market,” he said.
Mr Zungu urged farmers to register early so the industry could come up with proper crop estimates for planning purposes.
He said buyers required accurate figures to source adequate funds from offshore markets to buy the crop from farmers.
Mr Zungu said it was unfortunate that some farmers did not want to register timely and this affected operations at the floors.
“Last season we expected a crop of around 165 million kg which was later revised to 175 million kg and now we are at 202 million kg. This is because some farmers had not registered. Sometimes we end up having congestion at the floors as some farmers bring their crop without booking,” he said.
Some extension officers said some farmers were still not aware of the registration fees and preferred using fellow growers’ numbers for a fee.
The extension officers complained of some growers who did not destroy tobacco stalks resulting in the buildup of pests and diseases.
They raised a concern that plant protection officers were not visible on the ground while others accused contractors and merchants of not supervising their contracted growers to check if they had destroyed stalks.
Mr Zungu raised concern over the increase in nesting (inclusion of non-tobacco material usually to increase weight).
Online Reporter