Bindura (New Ziana) -Farmers have been urged to cure tobacco using sustainable and environmentally friendly methods as forests are getting wiped out across the country.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) Mashonaland Central regional manager Judas Chitsike said sustainable methods included avoiding child labour, banned chemicals and clearing indigenous forests.
“Use the appropriate fuel-charcoal, firewood and bamboos and sawdust but, these two are still under research. Have your own eucalyptus woodlots from where you get your firewood,” he said.
Tobacco farmers are busy curing the crop and auction floors are likely to open in about two months time hence forests are under threat.
Increasingly, businesses around the world are responding to a global imperative and consumer demand for goods that are produced using environmentally friendly methods.
According to the TIMB, tobacco farmers contribute 15 percent to deforestation in the country annually.
“We also encourage the use of coal in curing. Let us also have small barns where we are using firewood to limit the quantity of trees we are cutting down,” he said.
Tobacco specialists and researchers are currently carrying out a feasibility study and research on the effectiveness of bamboo and saw dust to cure the golden leaf.
