The Sunday Mail
Amon Chingwere
The low prices that have characterised the tobacco industry this season are due to poor quality of the crop being delivered at auction floors.
The reason for the low quality has been erratic rains that saw the crop ripening under too much heat.
Tobacco should ripen under normal humid conditions so that it utilises the nutrients applied in order for the leaves to attain the weight as well as the required texture.
While farmers need money, buyers, too, are in business and need to buy a profitable crop.
I believe that those farmers delivering good quality crop are getting high prices. For instance, there are some getting as much as US$4,99/kg.
But the question many people are asking is what do buyers meant by good quality tobacco?
Good quality tobacco means enough fertilisers should be applied to the crop, it should be well cured and contain enough nicotine.
A quality leaf is recognised by its texture as well as colour and is oil-like and heavy. Some farmers are delivering dry leaves which are dark in colour as well as dry. Surely you do not expect to get a high price from that.
Farmers should treat tobacco farming seriously if they want good returns.
They needed to do land preparation on time to avoid weeds and pests that came with weeds. Tobacco seedlings also needed to be prepared well under the required moist conditions.
Transplanting of the crop is equally important at a time the rains start falling. Curing is a very critical stage which should be taken with due care.
The initial stage requires low heat and the temperature is increased as the days go by.
That is why tobacco curers are not supposed to sleep at night if they physically control the temperature.
We all have heard stories of former white farmers who would move around at night checking on their curers to make sure they remain awake and continue adding firewood or coal to maintain the barn temperatures.
We might think they were being cruel, but that is exactly how it should be done. The grading stage is also important. Some farmers were delivering mixed bales where good leaves are mixed with bad ones.
As such the buyer would offer prices judging on the bad leaf without looking at the good ones because he or she would not be sure what he would be paying for. Sizes of leaves should also be the same in a bale.
Mr Amon Chingwere is a tobacco merchant. He spoke to The Sunday Mail Agriculture Editor Emilia Zindi in his personal capacity.
