Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter—
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has licensed three auction floors and 19 contract buyers as preparations for the 2017 marketing season intensify.TIMB communications manager Mr Isheunesu Moyo confirmed the development yesterday. He said the floors could open early.
“We have licensed three auction floors — Boka Tobacco Floors, Premier Tobacco Floors and Tobacco Sales Floor — for the 2017 marketing season.
“TIMB has also licensed 19 contract buyers to buy the crop,” he said.
Mr Moyo said farmers with an early-planted irrigated crop had started reaping and curing in preparation for the marketing season.
“Some farmers with an early planted crop have started reaping and are now concentrating on curing. It is unfortunate that some farmers have lost their crop to the recent hailstorm and strong winds. In some areas affected farmers have started replanting,” he said.
Mr Moyo said some of the affected farmers had insured their crop.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently encouraged stakeholders in the tobacco industry to consider opening auction floors early to ease cash shortages.
TIMB is expected to roll the electronic marketing platform during the 2017 season.
Mr Moyo said currently consultants were working on the project and doing the final installations and training the relevant personnel before the commissioning of the e-marketing platform.
“The e-marketing platform will be in full deployment during the 2017 marketing season,” he said.
Prospects for the 2017 agricultural season are positive as normal to above rainfall was predicted.
The high rainfall is ideal for tobacco production where the bulk of the farmers still rely on rain fed agriculture.
Farmers have planted 32 208 hectares of tobacco during the 2016/ 17 season. The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board statistics indicate that this is an increase from the 28 865 hectares planted during the same period last year.
There has also been an increase in the number of registered growers with 73 492 registered for the 2016 /17 season, an increase from last year’s 69 518.