Warning against illegal tobacco seed imports

Edgar Vhera, Agriculture Specialist Writer

KUTSAGA Research has warned against illegal tobacco seed imports which could destroy the viable sector earmarked to grow to a US$5billion industry.

In a recent notice, Kutsaga Research said the institution had received numerous reports of illegal imports and sales of uncertified flue-cured tobacco seed varieties in Zimbabwe.

“This includes some unprescribed old fertile lines and varieties and also landraces purportedly sold as Kutsaga hybrids.

“Unfortunately, growers who have cultivated these varieties have suffered huge economic losses due to their inherently low or poor agronomic attributes which result in crop and leaf that falls short of market standards for flue-cured tobacco,” Kutsaga cautioned.

An illegal variety is that which has not been prescribed and approved by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) on the recommendation of the Tobacco Research Board (TRB) for commercial production in Zimbabwe.

Kutsaga Research said its unique tobacco attributes were safeguarded by proven and widely adapted locally bred genetics as well as tested and approved foreign varieties.

Kutsaga said its rigorous industry-wide testing protocols (including agronomic, chemical, smoke quality) guarantee the sought-after quality of all tobacco varieties bred locally or imported in Zimbabwe.

A farmer from Gutu, Masvingo is counting his losses after unknowingly buying cigar wrapper type seed from unauthorised and unscrupulous sources, thinking it was flue cured, only to realise the mistake at reaping.

The same unfortunate circumstances extended to farmers in Gokwe South and Karoi, who planted varieties that did not align with any recognized tobacco strains.

Kutsaga Research has warned that growers and merchants will inadvertently suffer financial losses through yield penalties, increased cost in pests and disease control and low value leaf crop (or filler styles).

“The net effect is that, at household level this compromise family income and food security and at national level it results in low foreign currency receipts and this goes against the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan (TVCTP) and its tenets towards a US$5 billion-dollar revenue from the crop,” said the institution.