The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has assured tobacco farmers across the country that they will be paid the five percent export incentive for the 2017 crop.The retention of the scheme is meant to motivate farmers to produce more quality crop.
RBZ Governor, Dr John Mangudya, said in an interview that tobacco farmers who would deliver their crop when the auction floors open for the 2017 selling season would be entitled to a five percent export bonus to promote production of the export crop.
Dr Mangudya said the country should take advantage of the good agricultural season to boost the economy, adding that incentivising farmers was one way Government was encouraging farmers to produce more.
“We will be paying them the incentive for 2017. Farmers cannot produce without being incentives, so this is one way we are encouraging them to produce export crops.
We hope the quality and quantity of the crop will be good since we had good rains,” said Dr Mangudya. RBZ paid $30 million export incentive for the 2016 crop. Many farmers have been abandoning other cash crops such as cotton for tobacco due to the favourable prices.
AT least 13 869 farmers have registered to grow tobacco for the first time during the 2016/17 cropping season, representing a 56 percent increase from the 8 894 recorded at the same time last year, latest statistics from the industry regulator show.
Tobacco is the single largest export commodity for Zimbabwe, ahead of platinum and gold. The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board said as at December 9 last year, at least 73 658 farmers had registered to grow and market the crop this season, at least 34 363 of who are communal farmers.
Since the country started using multiple foreign currencies in 2009, the tobacco industry has been one of the fastest to recover from the economic meltdown of the past decade due to favourable prices and organised marketing.
The TIMB also said at least 41 462 hectares was under tobacco as at the end of last November, increasing from 38 808 hectares planted during the comparable period last year. Of the 41 462 hectares of planted tobacco, at least 27 066 hectares were put under dry land tobacco.
The TIMB said farmers who planted irrigated tobacco were from Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, and Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Midlands provinces. Farmers in Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West provinces have also started harvesting.
TIMB communication officer, Mr Usheunesu Moyo, said they had completed the second crop assessment last week and would convene a stakeholder meeting which would determine when auction floors would be opened.
“We cannot say when the auction floors will be opened as that will depend on what the stakeholders will agree on. At the moment we were preoccupied with the second tobacco assessment and we are seized with the report compilation.
Farmers are busy reaping and curing the crop, and the quality ranges from good to very good,” said Mr Moyo. The industry regulator also said at least 156.7 million
kilogrammes of flue cured tobacco worth $881.9 million had been exported this year at an average price of $5.63 per kg. The bulk of the tobacco was exported to China while other countries that bought the golden leaf included South Africa, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Sudan and Russia.
The past cropping season was characterized by drought which resulted in farmers planting late, while the crop was also heavily affected by dry spells.
