Farmers planted 32 210 hectares this year, compared to the 28 865 hectares planted last year.

THE early planted tobacco crop, mostly irrigated has been harvested, cured and is ready for marketing.

The auction floors and contract buyers are expected to open as soon as the farmers are ready for marketing.

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) in preparation for the 2017 marketing season licensed three auction floors: Boka Tobacco Floors, Premier Tobacco Floors and Tobacco Sales Floor. The board also licensed 19 contractors.

TIMB communications manager, Isheunesu Moyo said although lately the rains have not been characterised by winds and hailstorms, farmers are always encouraged to insure their crop.

Besides the hailstorms, the heavy rains cause leaching and this affects crop quality and yield.

“High rainfalls also increase the ripening rate of the tobacco crop, thereby putting pressure on the curing facilities. Calcium nitrate can be used to slow down the ripening stage so as to ease pressure on the barns. Re-ridging must be done to avoid water logging as water logging culminates in plant wilting and causes fast ripening of the tobacco plants. To avoid water logging, at the beginning of the season we encouraged farmers to construct ridges along the slopes so as to enable them to lose excess water,” Moyo said.

Farmers planted 32 210 hectares this year, compared to the 28 865 hectares planted last year.

Although the irrigated crop has been harvested and ready for marketing, the rain-fed crop is still in the fields and farmers have been encouraged to insure their crop.

“It is prudent for a tobacco farmer to invest in a rain gauge and to keep records of all daily rainfalls so as to be able to estimate amount of water that would have soaked into the soil as this will also help in carrying out leaching adjustments,” he said.