Give us Incentives for Next Season, Say Tobacco Farmers

Source from:  herald.co.zw Business Reporter 08/27/2007

TOBACCO farmers have called on the Government to avail incentives for the 2007/08 season that will factor in the inflationary trends which have seen the pre-season estimate cost of production jumping from about $40 million to $900 million per hectare. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union president Mr Wilson Nyabonda said the tobacco sector had pegged the cost of production at $40 million per hectare at the beginning of their preparations but his had already been eroded. "We estimate that our farmers will have to fork out between $700 million and $900 million per hectare, hence there is a need for all stakeholders involved in the production of the golden leaf to come together and map a way forward that will ensure viability in the sector. "Of major concern for farmers are conditions that have been attached to the Agricultural Sector Production Enhancement Facility to reduce lending to large-scale farmers by 50 percent," he said. He said although more than $6 trillion have been pledged to assist small-scale farmers to buy inputs to cover about 15 000 hectares in the coming season, there was still need to assist the large-scale producers most of who are still nurturing their skills. Zimbabwe Farmers' Union vice-president Mr Edward Raradza said it was imperative to find a permanent solution to the availability of inputs at affordable prices. "We are grateful for what the Government is doing but we need stakeholders in the agriculture sector to come up with a solution to problems of unavailability of inputs. Agriculture needs to be capacitated before we can talk of exports," he said. Tobacco Growers Trust president Mr Wilfanos Mashingaidze expressed similar sentiments saying farmers need to have their inputs well before the farming season begins if they are to contain the effects of inflation. "We implore producers of commodities like seed and fertilizer to avail them in time so that our farmers can buy their inputs as soon as they make their deliveries. This is the only way we can manage the effects of inflation and ensure sustainability of the tobacco sector," he said. Tobacco deliveries to the country's three auction floors are expected to top 80 million kilogrammes this year, about half of which had already gone under the hammer. Tobacco farmers have pledged to increase production from the estimated 80 million kilogrammes this year to more than 100 million kilogrammes next year. At its peak in 1999, Zimbabwe produced more than 250 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf. Enditem