Erratic Coal Supplies Hamper Tobacco Curing

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) December 8, 2005  12/09/2005

ERRATIC coal supplies are hampering tobacco curing with some farmers resorting to firewood, thereby compromising the quality of tobacco that should only be cured by either washed coal peas or coal cobbles. Agriculture Minister Dr Joseph Made yesterday said A2 farmers with tobacco ready for curing were desperate. "I am pleading on behalf of the farmers that here we are, way behind again, without the necessary material that would enable our farmers to properly cure their tobacco and come up with a high quality product," Dr Made said. He said, once again the blame was on his ministry when in actual fact some A2 farmers were failing to maximise production owing to factors ranging from lack of commitment by some commercial banks to finance the farmers and dragging of feet by other supporting sectors. Hwange Colliery Company acting marketing and public relations manager Mr Mandla Mangena yesterday confirmed that there had been problems in the mining of coal owing to servicing of the dragline. "The dragline is now back from service and we are now making our usual production and supplies to the farmers," Mr Mangena said. He attributed the slow supply of coal to farmers to few wagons to ferry the coal to designated points countrywide. "On average we load up to 15 wagons a day and sometimes as less as five wagons. Each wagon carries 40 tonnes of coal." Mr Mangena said at least 120 wagons were needed to adequately cater for all the farmers in the country. "We are producing over 6 000 tonnes of coal per day and it is enough for the country's daily needs in various sectors that include electricity and for hospitals if there are modes to transport the commodity." Dr Made said agriculture remained the mainstay of the country's economy, hence the need to always question the actions of some people and sectors who seemed not to understand the importance of the land reform programme. He said although there were bound to be hurdles along the way, all stakeholders needed to show commitment by understanding the plight of farmers and supplying inputs such as fertiliser and providing tillage on time. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Davison Mugabe said farmers were supposed to access coal through commercial banks which directly pay Hwange Colliery. "There is no coal and the bulk of commercial farmers are financing their own activities," Mr Mugabe said. Enditem