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Zimbabwe crop beset by spiraling costs

Lovegot Tendengu, CEO of Zimbabwe’s Farmers’ Development Trust, has warned that input prices will have to be kept in check if Zimbabwe’s farmers are to produce a tobacco crop next season, reports The Herald.

World Leaf News

Tobacco production costs for the 2006-2007 season will rise sharply to z$10.4 billion ($14,141 against the official exchange rate) per hectare from under z$200 million during the current season. And they could rise to z$2 billion per hectare if critical inputs such as fertilizer and fuel were not regularly available, because such a situation would force farmers to turn to the parallel market, Tendengu said.

With a target of 55,000 hectares planted to tobacco during 2006-2007, the industry will need z$15 trillion-z$18 trillion for inputs.