Over 63,000 Hectares Of Tobacco Planted In Zimbabwe This Year

Source from:  Bernama 12/20/2013

At least 63,765 hectares have been planted with tobacco in Zimbabwe for the 2013/2014 cropping season in nine provinces, up from 40,316 hectares in the same period last year.

Mashonaland West Province reported the largest cultivated area with 22,608 ha followed by Mashonaland East with 21,901 ha, according to a tobacco weekly report from the Ministry of Agriculture's Crop Production Department.

Of the total hectarage, 13,648 ha are cultivated on irrigated land compared with 12,994 ha last year. At least 50,117 ha are under the dry-land crop compared with 27,322 ha last year.

Farmers in Mashonaland West are already reaping and curing the crop that was planted early. In Mashonaland East, high temperatures have resulted in temporary suspension of transplanting of tobacco with farmers preoccupied with weeding, top dressing and suckering.

In some parts of Masvingo Province, farmers are still preparing land to plant tobacco.

In 2013, farmers produced 166.5 million kilogrammes of tobacco, a 15 per cent increase from 144.5 million kg the previous year.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has said it is expecting more than 50,000 new tobacco growers this season on top of the 90,000 last year.

Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe's major agricultural exports and accounts for 10.7 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

Major export destinations include China, Britain, South Africa, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius and Russia. Enditem