THE Tobacco Research Board (TRB) has developed and released four drought-tolerant tobacco varieties to boost production in the sector, an official has said.
TRB chief executive officer Frank Magama said the move is aimed at addressing the issue of wrong varieties and also to meet the 300 million kg target.
“Just to show you that we haven't abandoned tobacco, I think in March, we released four varieties that are already in the market and these varieties actually fit into the tobacco transformation plan where we need to go to 300 million kilogrammes,” he told journalists during a media tour of the company facilities.
“Already, you see that it’s quite possible, but what we have done with these varieties is that they are drought-tolerant.
“So, they will be able to safeguard the yields that we are currently obtaining within the tobacco growing districts, you know the usual one, but more importantly, we have put more hectarage in the amount of tobacco that can be grown.”
He added: “Now, we have a belt around Masvingo where growers used to use the wrong varieties. They can grow this profitable (one) and we have a belt in Lower Gweru and we have a belt in Matabeleland where there is a concentration of growers that are doing tobacco and they are also suffering from wrong varieties.
“But with these varieties, what it means is we have marginally increased the area under tobacco production by providing varieties that will actually be profitable in those areas.
“And again, that fits within the scope of 300 million kilogrammes. Obviously, there are a number of things that we can do to make sure that we can constantly get the 300 million kilogrammes without necessarily increasing the hectarage itself. So, increasing hectarage wasn’t part of getting to the 300 million kilogrammes, but it was part of safeguarding the yield in the current tobacco production zones, including so called marginal areas.”
According to the most recent statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the country exported tobacco worth roughly US$407 million in the first four months of 2023, while deliveries for the current marketing season reached record levels.
Tobacco exports, which are ranked second in terms of exports only to gold, reached US$407,1 million as of April 30, 2023 as opposed to US$308 million by April 13, 2022, central bank figures show.
Zimbabwe exported tobacco worth US$968 million last year, up from US$575 million in the same time the year before.
After reaching around 260 million kg yesterday, tobacco deliveries for the current season have broken their previous record of 253 million kg set in 2020.
In comparison to the same time last year, the deliveries indicate a 55% rise, according to data from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB).
Tobacco is now worth US$782 million, up 54% from US$729 million the previous year.
A total of 18,3 million kg were sold at auction, whereas over 240,7 million kg were sold via contract.
The nation produced 253 million kg at its height.
By 2025, the nation hopes to produce 300 million kg of tobacco, raise value addition and beneficiation to around 30% through the manufacture of cigarettes, and develop the industry to US$5 billion under the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation strategy.