Zimbabwe: Stop Using Methyl Bromide, Tobacco Growers Urged

Source from:  The Herald 05/04/2010

Harare - Tobacco farmers should use alternatives to methyl bromide on their crop as the pesticide is being phased out in compliance with the Montreal Protocol, a senior Government official has said. Addressing a workshop in Harare on Wednesday, Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Management Ms Florence Nhekairo said: "Farmers in different sectors should adapt to alternatives to methyl bromide, which have been introduced to curb the destruction of the ozone layer. "Alternatives have been identified in the main sectors that relied on methyl bromide hence there is no need for continued use of the pesticide." Methyl bromide depletes the stratospheric ozone layer and Zimbabwe has specific regulations phasing out its use. Zimbabwe is on course to phase out methyl bromide use by 2015. At the same workshop, United Nations Evironment Programme methyl bromide officer Mrs Florence Asher urged all stakeholders to support the phasing out of the pesticide by adopting the identified alternatives. "Methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting substance, which has to be phased out by using the floating tray system in tobacco farming and steam sterilisation for cut-flower production," she said. The Tobacco Research Board encourages tobacco float seedling production as an alternative to conventional seedbed farming. TRB divisional co-odinator (field services) Mr Ezekia Svotwa said between June 2006 and December 2009 they had trained 15 991 tobacco growers on the use of float trays. "There is now an increased awareness by tobacco growers on the dangers of methyl bromide on the ozone layer," he said. Meanwhile, the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has assured farmers that scales being used to weigh their crop at the auction floors are accurate. This follows allegations by some tobacco growers that the auction floors were cheating them by using scales that had been tampered with. The scales, farmers allege, always show a lower weight compared to that reflected on their own farm scales. TIMB acting chief executive Mr Meanwell Gudu this week responded: "The Standards Association of Zimbabwe certifies these scales and TIMB periodically checks them for accuracy." Enditem