Theseus Mauruki Shambare in VICTORIA FALLS
ZIMBABWE’S tobacco industry is stepping up efforts to transition towards greener crop-protection chemicals and biological alternatives as researchers seek to minimise the environmental footprint of production while responding to increasingly complex pest and disease threats.
The shift, being driven through research by the Tobacco Research Board (TRB) and collaboration with industry stakeholders, is part of broader efforts to promote sustainable tobacco production amid climate change, emerging pests and the growing challenges associated with conventional chemical control.
TRB head of Plant Health and Agricultural Resilience, Dr Cleopas Chinheya, said the industry had made significant progress in adopting greener crop-protection chemicals, particularly among small-scale farmers.
“Majority of our molecules are now in the green, with the green molecules and purple being the multi-sites, usually used by large-scale farmers, otherwise the rest of our small-scale growers use green chemistry,” he said.
The transition, Dr Chinheya said, was aligned with the industry’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.
However, the shift comes at a time when tobacco producers are facing increasingly complex plant-health challenges, including the emergence of new pests, the re-emergence of previously controlled diseases and resistance to some conventional chemicals.
“We are not spared from the re-emergence of these pathogens over time because of forces of evolution, and also the emergence of new problems which are now facing conventional methods,” he said.
Among the emerging threats are aphids, mealybugs, red spider mites and soil-borne pathogens such as Fusarium and Phytophthora, whose prevalence is influenced by changing climatic conditions.
Dr Chinheya said the industry was therefore moving towards integrated pest management (IPM), combining chemical interventions with biological control and resistant plant varieties.
“IPM is at the centre of our response in terms of chemistry, in terms of biological and also plant resistance,” he said.
Under this approach, Kutsaga is strengthening research into locally developed biological solutions, including Trichoderma for deployment among small-scale farmers, rhizobacterial isolates for drought management and locally pathogenic fungi targeting insect pests.
“While we have found our investments in biologicals with the global industry in terms of deploying to the industry, we are developing our own,” Dr Chinheya said.
He said the institution was also working with industry players and farmers to ensure that research findings translated into practical crop-protection solutions.
“We interact with the industry very strongly in terms of stakeholder engagement, at policy level, we meet with industry and other partners to develop solutions around plant health,” he said.
The institution also trains approximately 12 000 extension officers annually and conducts about 30 industry training sessions to strengthen farmers’ knowledge of pest and disease management.
Dr Chinheya said the broader objective was to ensure that research, technology and innovation remained central to safeguarding tobacco production.
“Moving forward, we are using three pillars. First, to move from a predictive phase because we’re being fast outpaced by these problems, and we are integrating these with technology, with IT, and making sure that we also push the innovations and providing those to the industry,” he said.
The transition towards greener crop protection is expected to strengthen the sustainability of Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry, although its success will depend on the affordability, accessibility and proven effectiveness of alternative products, particularly for smallholder farmers.
