Zimbabwe: Five Tobacco Farmers Leave for China

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 17 November 2008 11/18/2008

FIVE tobacco farmers contracted to Tina Ze Tobacco Company left for China at the weekend on a mission to interact with fellow farmers and learn how to improve and increase tobacco production in Zimbabwe. Tina Ze Tobacco Company supports tobacco farming in many countries. The five were selected the best contract farmers for 2007 out of the 150 contracted by the company, which was established in Zimbabwe in 2004. Tian Ze's administration manager Mr Zhitao Li said the company would fully sponsor the five farmers for their one-week-long visit to China's leading tobacco-farming province, Kumning. "We want to motivate our farmers so that they continue to produce good quality tobacco," Mr Zhitao said. So with this visit they will be able to interact with fellow Chinese tobacco farmers and see model tobacco farms in China," Mr Zhitao said. He said the visit would also allow the farmers to get more expertise from their Chinese counterparts on tobacco farming since China is highly developed in tobacco farming. Tian Ze Tobacco Company in September this year provided tractors, generators, chemicals and fertilizers to tobacco farmers for the 2008-9 farming season. This was part of China's efforts to increase production of the cash crop in Zimbabwe. China is the highest consumer of tobacco in the world. The country has also made huge contributions in the procurement of equipment, chemicals and agricultural inputs despite spirited efforts by Britain and her allies to discredit Zimbabwe's land reform programme. Since 2006, China has poured more than US$125 million into Zimbabwe's land reform programme while individual companies have injected almost US200 million into farming projects. Enditem