Tobacco Asia

Tobacco Asia 63 Tobacco Asia's attempts at securing inter- views with other stakeholders in Zimbabwe un- fortunately also proved futile. The supposed gas oven importer, GasCure, as well as the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA) and the Ministry did not even bother responding to our inquiries. This leads Tobacco Asia to believe that Zimbabwe has perhaps chewed off a little too much to swallow with its ambitious transformation by the end of 2025. At least the timeframe for full implementa- tion will be delayed. "Close to 100%" gas curing in the US Where Zimbabwe appears to be somewhat strug- gling, things look very different in the United States. The country was the earliest adopter of gas curing, having already begun transitioning from wood to gas or oil after World War 2 as fossil fuel sources became readily available again. "Close to 100% of United States growers are set up to use gas … for flue-cured tobaccos," confirmed Kimberly Foley, executive chairman of Tobacco Associates, Inc., a leading tobacco growers' cooperative. Although LPG is the predominant fuel source, some growers also are hooked up to natural gas pipelines. "But that is dependent on vicinity to a pipeline and the price of propane at the time of installing natural gas infrastructure," Foley explained. However, she also conceded that the country's current gas pipeline in- frastructure does not yet support a massive transi- tion to natural gas for many growers. According to Foley, LPG offers the greatest investment efficiency concerning both time and money. Traditional fuels require harvesting and, occasionally, manual feeding to barns, whereas LPG is delivered to the farm and fed to the barns directly. Furthermore, the utilization of heat ex- changers (installed on practically 100% of flue- cured barns in the US) improves curing efficiency while also managing TSNA levels in cured leaf. "Over the last two decades and post energy cri- sis, we have been able to increase efficiency with curing controls, barn design, burner designs, and variable frequency drives," Foley said. She added that gas consumption had "improved from around 7 pounds [3.18 kilograms] of cured leaf per gallon [3.79 liters] of LPG in 2006 to 10 pounds [4.54 kilograms] of cured leaf per gallon today." Although there currently are no laws that govern which fuel sources US growers are per- mitted to utilize, increasing environmental regula- tions, especially in the European Union [EU], an important export market for US leaf, have to be taken into account. Nevertheless, LPG also is the most sustainable fuel option for reducing the risk of deforestation in the United States. In addition, LPG has lower lifecycle emissions per unit of en- ergy delivered when compared to wood and, of course, coal, Foley said. A mixed bag of beans: the EU Talking about the EU, growers in Poland, Germany, France, and Italy are mostly utilizing gas curing. However, in Germany, but also Italy, growers have come under increasing pressure from skyrocketing gas prices. Meanwhile, in Poland, producers "use mostly LPG for curing tobacco, [but] some use also [resort to] diesel, pellets, eco coal, [regular] coal, and wood," according to Barbara Hyz, sales manager of Lukowa Tobacco. Poland, although a EU member, does currently not stipulate which specific fuel sources farmers are allowed to tap and which ones are banned, Hyz said. Brazil: fuel from commercial eucalyptus plantations In Brazil, on the other hand, there is no gas curing at all. "Most farmers burn loose [tree] leaves mixed in with wood nowadays," asserted Ari Schlesener, owner and proprietor of Ari Schlesener Ltda., a major exporter. "With this system, farmers need less wood, … have lower labor cost, a higher curing capacity, and achieve a higher efficiency due to fewer curing days [per batch], while the quality of the leaf remains top notch," Schlesener said. As it is illegal in Brazil to log or collect wood from natural forests, which comes with stiff penalties when caught, commercial eucalyptus plantations provide firewood as well as dried leaves. "In fact," said Schlesener, "most farmers maintain their own eucalyptus patches on their properties." The energy efficient gas curing barn currently trialed at Kutsaga. Credit: agriculture.co.zw Alongside corncobs and coconut shells, candlenut shells also are often used in Indonesia as flue curing fuel. Credit: PT. Mangli Djaya Raya

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