Almost a tonne of tobacco seed has been sold in Zimbabwe as demand for the commodity continues to increase, the Tobacco Research Board (TRB) revealed
TRB acting general manager Dehlia Garwe, who explained that five grammes of seed is required to cover a hectare of seedbed, said there has been high demand for tobacco seed this season, with the board having already run out of the favourite variety.
“There has been a huge and unprecedented demand for tobacco seed this year, in particular for one of our popular varieties, KRK66 (T66), which has just gone onto open release," she said.
Garwe advised growers to instead buy KRK 29 (T29), although it has a slower growth rate.
Tobacco production has been on the rise with more than 53,848 growers listed to grow the crop next season.
Zimbabwe has made US$577mn of profit from the sale of 156mn kg sold at an average price of US$3 per kg since the marketing season opened on 13 February 2013.
