Grower registrations up
The spectacular growth of Zimbabwean tobacco production has prompted Mashonaland Tobacco Co. to reopen its processing facility.
Registrations for growing flue-cured tobacco during Zimbabwe’s 2017/18 season, at 91,693, have increased by 39 percent from those of the 2016/17 season, 65,750, according to a story in The Chronicle citing Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) figures.
Agronomist Stacy Chiware was quoted as saying that the number of registered tobacco growers was expected to surge due to favorable prices at the auction floors.
“With regards to tobacco growers’ registration, Zimbabwe has since 2009 been improving on the numbers,” she said.
“We expect the upward trajectory to continue in the 2017/18 season and beyond because of the favorable prices auction floors continue to offer.”
The average grower price for flue-cured in Zimbabwe in 2016, at US$2.95 per kg, was lower than it was in 2009, US$2.98 per kg.
In only two of the seven years from 2009 to 2015 was the price lower than it was in 2016: in 2010, when it was US$2.88 per kg, and in 2009, when it was US$2.73 per kg.
In 1996, the average price was US$2.94 per kg.