Tobacco Growers Meet

Source from:  The Herald 07/14/2010

A ONE-DAY conference for tobacco growers will be held in Harare tomorrow to prepare growers for the next farming season Cardinal Chartered Accountants Zimbabwe, a local accounting firm is hosting the conference. Organiser, Mr Eric Matudure said the conference will give farmers an opportunity to interact with service providers and get an insight into tobacco production. "We are encouraging tobacco farmers, service providers and all those who are interested and specialising in tobacco farming and other professional bodies to attend this conference in the interests of better tobacco production and economic development," he said. The conference will focus on land preparation, planting and variety choices for improved yields, applying the right type and quantity of fertilizer. Farmers would also be educated on transportation services, funding for tobacco production, tobacco auctioning and the pricing process. Insurance solutions for the tobacco industry, irrigation services and other relevant areas that affect tobacco farmers will also be discussed. Mr Matudure said the Tobacco Research Board, Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company, Unifreight, Technical Services Africa, Hunyani Flexible Packaging, Dore & Pitt, NicozDiamond, Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board, Metropolitan Bank and Zimbabwe Auction Tobacco Centre were some of the major participants expected to make presentations. Most small-scale farmers in the country have taken up tobacco farming following the land redistribution programme and most growers have been compounded by lack of funding. Some farmers also lacked the knowledge to increase production resulting in Government and the private sector embarking education campaigns to farmers. Tobacco is one of the country's top foreign currency earners contributing 26 percent to the Gross Domestic Product last year. Last year, Zimbabwe generated US$165 million from tobacco sales. As a result Government has since revised the initial projection of 77 million kg of tobacco produced last year to 114 million kg. Enditem