Zimbabwe: Tobacco Board Needs More Funds for Input Credit Facility

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 31 October 2007 11/01/2007

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board will go to the market to raise more funds for its input credit facility to help 7 000 small-scale tobacco farmers during the 2007/08 farming season. TIMB acting chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said the board had received $40 billion for the facility against a request of $1,5 trillion. "We are looking at raising more money through the issuing of tobacco bills." The money would be used to buy chemicals and fertilizers for distribution to the small-scale farmers. The board was disbursing chemicals such as Temik and Tamaron, which are critical in the planting stages. The two chemicals were being bought locally and were expensive hence the need to raise more funds. Temik is used to control nematodes while Tamaron is used to control aphids. The board was awaiting delivery of 1 000 tonnes of compound fertilizer which it would be allocated from the 10 000 tonnes that has been availed by the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation. In the meantime, he said TIMB has been disbursing fertilizer left over from last year. The board had managed to disburse 1 200 tonnes of compound fertilizer and 100 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. "We expect to get our allocation from the GMB this week," he said. TIMB was targeting to disburse a total of 5 000 tonnes of compound C and 1 000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate top dressing for this season. Through the TIMB initiative the 7 000 farmers were expected to plant a total area amounting to 12 000 hectares. A target of 120 million kg has already been set for this year's tobacco crop and preliminary indications are that preparations are well on course. A total of 495 kilogrammes of tobacco seed has been sold so far. If the seed is planted at the correct sowing rate of an average of 6,5 grammes a hectare it would cover over 75 000 hectares, which is sufficient to yield the set target. The Government has shown its determination to make this the mother of all agricultural seasons by ensuring that farmers get enough seed and inputs such as fertilizer. The GMB has distributed over 50 000 tonnes of Compound D fertilizer to A1, communal and A2 farmers as preparations for the next faring season gathers momentum. In an interview early this month, GMB's acting chief executive, Retired Colonel Samuel Muvuti, said the national granary has also started distributing ammonium nitrate and urea to all farmers although he was not in a position to reveal the actual tonnage that has been distributed to farmers. Rtd Colonel Muvuti said A1 farmers and communal farmers were collecting fertilizer from their nearest GMB depots countrywide while large-scale farmers were buying at GMB's regional head offices. He, however, indicated that the tonnage of ammonium nitrate distributed was less than that of compound D. Agriculture Minister Mr Rugare Gumbo recently indicated that the country was targeting to import 800 000 tonnes of basal and top dressing fertilizers as it moves towards averting the looming shortage of the critical farming input ahead of the forthcoming season. He said the target was to import 400 000 tonnes of basal fertilizers and another 400 000 tonnes of a combination of ammonium nitrate and urea. Reserve Bank governor Dr Gideon Gono, in his Mid-Term Monetary Policy Review Statement, said the timeous and adequate supply of fertilizers and agro-chemicals was key in laying the foundation for a prosperous agricultural season. "Against this background, the Reserve Bank is working closely with the GMB to ensure that our farmers are adequately capacitated for what is going to be the mother of all agricultural seasons," he said. The TIMB facility falls under the Reserve Bank-funded Agricultural Sector Productivity Enhancement Facility. Enditem