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Zimbabwe predicting 70 million kg, at most

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Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board has reduced its leaf tobacco production target for the current season from 160 million kg to, at most, 70 million kg, reports The Herald (Harare).

The board lays most of the blame for the shortfall on the late disbursement of funding and inputs, though it also cites adverse weather conditions.

Last season, Zimbabwe produced about 74 million kg.

The TIMB chairman was quoted as saying that preliminary estimates put production this season at 60 million-70 million kg, but he said that actual figures would be available in the middle of March. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe To-
bacco Association has been reported as saying that this season’s crop could be as low as 50 million kg.

The association’s president was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying that the country needed to look at why production was dropping and how this trend could be reversed.