Tobacco Growers Seek Early Start to Selling Season

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 02/21/2005

TOBACCO growers want the 2005 selling season brought forward so that they can repay their loans before they become unbearable. The local tobacco selling normally begins at the end of April. But some growers wanted the season to open much earlier, by mid-March, before commercial bank interest charges eat into their profits or make it impossible to meet their obligations. However, they have been warned that opening the tobacco selling season earlier could have a negative impact on the value of the crop as it would clash with sales in South American producing countries, especially Brazil. President of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers* Union Mr Davison Mugabe said while he understood their reasons for wanting to dispose of the tobacco crop early, it also was important to remember that this could be costly to the farmers. "There is a danger that if we open the auction floors earlier than usual, most of the buyers would be in Brazil as the selling season would be in full swing there. "I think they should first finish with the buying of the crop in Brazil and then come to Zimbabwe for the 2005 selling season," said Mr Mugabe. He said it was imperative that farmers wait until the normal tobacco selling season opens to avoid competing directly with the Brazilian crop. Growers were urged to remain patient as the local crop continued to attract merchants from across the globe because of its superior blending quality - a result of the unique climatic conditions in the country. It was also critical that the auction floors open at a time when almost all the farmers have completed curing their crop. At present, only those with irrigated facilities have started curing. Some farmers financed the 200/05 crop using their own resources, mostly loans from commercial banks, and interest charges have been ballooning since last year. Growers had to source their own finance as delays in the disbursement of inputs under the Tobacco Input Credit Scheme threatened to derail their plans. Tobacco for the 2005 season has been financed through the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board-initiated input credit scheme, contract farming while others are self- financed. To date, 7 569 tobacco growers have benefited from inputs amounting to $102 billion availed through the credit scheme meant to boost tobacco production which has been slipping in the past four seasons. Beneficiaries of the credit scheme are expected to produce around 60 million kilogrammes of flue-cured tobacco while contract production, other schemes and self-financed growers are set to produce about 40 million kilogrammes. Enditem