THE Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has announced that the 2023 tobacco marketing season will commence on March 8 for auction floors and March 9 for contract floors.
Last year the season started on March 30 for auction floors and March 31 for contract floors.
In a tweet yesterday, TIMB said the 2023 flue-cured tobacco marketing season would start with the auction floors on March 8 while their contractor counterparts would follow suit a day later.
In a letter written to various tobacco stakeholders TIMB acting chief executive officer Mr Emmanuel Matsvaire said: “All stakeholders are advised that the 2023 auction tobacco marketing season opens on Wednesday, 8 March 2023.
“Sales at other licenced auction floors will start at 0900hrs on Wednesday March 8 with contract tobacco sales opening on Thursday March 9. A brief ceremony to mark the start of the 2023 tobacco marketing season will be held on the same day at a venue and time to be circulated in due course.”
Meanwhile, TIMB public affairs officer, Mrs Chelesani Tsarwe said a report on the state of preparedness for the 2023 tobacco marketing season would be sent out on twitter, TIMB website and all news platforms before end of this week.
TIMB has been warning tobacco growers against side marketing their crop in the run-up to the season’s opening.
Guided by its own crop assessment exercise in all tobacco producing regions, TIMB is anticipating high tobacco volumes this season.
Tobacco Farmers Union Trust vice president Mr Edward Dune said all farmers were looking forward to a rewarding tobacco marketing season.
“The play-ground has to be level in terms of pricing. Let the price matrix reward on the basis of quality. No merchant should be a farmer’s favourite given that some are paying more for the same quality to avoid side marketing and related gimmicks,” said Mr Dune.
Zimbabwe Integrated Commercial Farmers Union (ZICFU) president, Mrs Mayiwepi Jiti added that farmers were optimistic of a favourable marketing season.
“Most farmers are ready to sell their tobacco, especially the irrigated crop, which has fast ripened due to the above normal rainfall received in many parts of the country.
“It is our wish that contracting companies pay farmers within the shortest time possible to avoid congestion at the floors and banks to curtail the spread of Covid-19, cases of which are rising again,” said Mrs Jiti.
Mrs Jiti said contracting companies must not maximise profits on inputs by milking the poor farmers but should plough back into the community.
She encouraged farmers to seriously think and plan for the next tobacco season, as they plan and buy inputs.
“The Government has tried in good faith to make farmers retain 85 percent of their incomes in foreign currency with the remainder being disbursed in local currency.
“We applaud the Government’s efforts though a 100 percent would have cushioned tobacco farmers from rising input prices for sustainability and profitability of tobacco farming,” added Mrs Jiti.
The good rains being received in most tobacco growing areas of the country have led to farmers in different tobacco social media groups to estimate yields of above 220 million kilogrammes of tobacco, with some even believing 260 million kilogrammes were likely this season. – The Herald
