Tobacco growers warn of threat to crop

Zimbabwe tobacco farmers on Monday called for an end to lawlessness by war veterans occupying their farms, warning that the country’s position as a leading world supplier of tobacco was under threat from the disruptions, news reports said.

Kobus Joubert of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA), the main growers association, said the “urgency of restoring law and order cannot be over-emphasised” because farmers needed to be able to plant by 1 September. “The current prevailing disruptions to farming operations need to be urgently addressed and all parties are encouraged to work together to find an immediate solution,” Joubert said.

“Failure to achieve the 180 million kg core business crop will jeopardise Zimbabwe’s position as a leading supplier of quality flavourful flue-cured tobacco for the international brands of cigarettes,” Joubert warned. Zimbabwe is the world’s second-biggest exporter of tobacco after Brazil, and is one of the top three producers of quality flue-cured virginia leaf along with the United States and Brazil.

“Dry land tobacco preparation and seedbed sowing are normally completed by mid-August, thereby effectively determining the overall size of the national crop,” Joubert said.