Record-breaking tobacco planting season predicted for 2022-2023.

Industry experts predict that the tobacco crop will experience the largest planting area in history if all the seeds sold during the 2022 and 2023 planting seasons are actually planted, as seed sales have increased during this period.

According to recent statistics from the Tobacco Research Board (TRB), as of September 2, 2022, at least 925kg of tobacco seeds have been sold, covering an area of 184,999 hectares.

Last season, 798 kilograms of seed were sold that can cover 159,664 hectares.

Mr. Oswell Mharapara, the acting CEO of TRB, confirmed this development.

The previous largest tobacco cultivation area was 146,000 hectares in 2019. This year, the price of tobacco seeds has increased by 20% from last year, with a cost of $30 per hectare.

Meanwhile, on September 1st, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) announced that the planting and irrigation of tobacco had begun. They revealed that they have implemented monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the contractors providing funds for crop production comply with regulations and alleviate farmers' concerns about contract arrangements. Most farmers expressed dissatisfaction with how contractors handled business last season.

As the 2022/23 season begins, TIMB is committed to standardizing input packages provided by contractors to farmers.

We have established a compliance management framework that every registered contractor must adhere to.

This sets the minimum investment plan for both small and large-scale cultivators.

These conditions also include the final date for allocation of input by the signatories of the contract," said Ms. Chelesani Moyo, TIMB Public Relations Officer.

She went on to say that as TIMB, the survival capacity of tobacco growers is at the core of the tobacco industry's future, therefore they are empowered to ensure that growers obtain maximum benefit from their labor.

She added that "the transparent system used in the auction determines fair prices for tobacco because growers are protected from any unfair pricing by contractors, and contractors are guided by the previous day's price matrix obtained from the auction.

On the other hand, if the current and previous season's challenges are not urgently resolved, farmers can only anticipate a slight increase in their yield.

Edward Danni, Vice Chairman of the Tobacco Farmers' Alliance, has stated that challenges faced by contracted farmers last season may compel some to reduce their land area.

In 2022 and 2023, small farmers may decrease or maintain the amount of land used for dryland tobacco cultivation due to funding shortages and other agricultural issues. Irrigated land area is not expected to be affected.

Mr. Dune stated that the irrigation area for tobacco crops may increase by approximately 10% due to the quality and price guarantees of this group, as well as receiving on-site investment from affluent and financially stable farmers.

He cited the obvious profiteering among contractors and the poverty of some small farmers as obstacles to planting on larger hectares of land.

It is necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of the contracting program, as some farmers are currently fighting against their contractors, accusing them of extortion by raising tobacco sales prices and deducting undue payments, making the situation even worse for the farmers," Mr. Dune continued.

Paul Zakariya, Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), agrees with this view, stating that "considering the sentiments of farmers, particularly those in contract farming, it is highly unlikely that tobacco planting will see a significant increase this season. Many contracted farmers feel that contractors charge them for insurance without remitting the same amount to insurance companies, which affects their coverage during natural disasters such as hailstorms.

Some farmers believe that their contracts with contractors are not transparent, especially when it comes to input invoices. They are only told about their input bills on the day they sell their tobacco, and the contractor deducts the funds allocated for input supplies first.

Mr. Zakariya further stated that due to lack of openness and transparency in the contracting process, as well as the farmers rushing to secure supplies at the last minute, the price of a 50kg bag of fertilizer during distribution was $40, while during the tobacco sales season, it exceeded $100.

He insists that farmers have a responsibility to collaborate with their association to supervise signed partners on fair competition issues.

Mr. Zakariya highlighted the issue of exchange rate disparities between official and parallel markets as a further challenge impacting the profitability of tobacco production.

Despite 75% of farmers' income being in hard currency, with the remaining 25% in local currency, input suppliers' desire for profit has led them to use high parallel market rates to price their products in foreign or local currency.

This makes tobacco production unprofitable. Therefore, it is essential for the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), and citizens to work together to stabilize our currency," said Mr. Zakariya.

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