Tobacco Asia

Tobacco Asia 57 Boegli.ch STORY TELL YOUR BRAND Boegli–Gravures can help you to develop subtle, refined and ingenious ways of elevating your brand's characteristics and enhance your consumer brand experience. Let us partner with you to bring new dimensions to your marketing. Half_pages_AD_2021.indd 1 Half_pages_AD_2021.indd 1 06.01.2021 14:47:31 06.01.2021 14:47:31 "Our failure to adapt to climate change was laid bare this year," said Edward Dune, who farms in Rusape, north-east of Harare, the capital. "The rains started falling late and when they did, they were erratic to such an extent that about 50% of the seedlings that farmers had planted were a write-off. Then there was a period of incessant rainfall which, however, gave way to a prolonged mid-season dry spell up to the end of the season. So it was a very difficult start to the season, on and off and heavy rains in the middle followed by an early end to the season." The southern African country is the con- tinent's number one tobacco producer and sixth globally. It exports up to 98% of its annual out- put mainly to China, South Africa, and the Middle East, earning an average US$1billion. In a review of the October 2021-March 2022 growing season, the government said effec- tive rains started falling in late December 2021 and where they fell earlier, between the last week of October to mid-November, it was a false start. Its distribution across the period was poor in terms of time and space. After the drier beginning to the season, there were heavy falls in January 2022 but the skies cleared out again in the first week of February to the end of March. "The false start of the season resulted in failed crop establishment forcing most farmers to replant several times," says the report released at the end of April. "The late onset caused late plantings which were later affected by the prolonged dry spell at the reproductive stage causing write-offs, es- pecially in the central and southern parts of the country. During April unusually heavy late rains have been received which should benefit the late planted crop. The positive impact of these rains has not been evaluated but should generally result Zimbabwean tobacco farmers undergoing training. (TIMB photo)

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