Harare (New Ziana) – The 2022 tobacco selling season will start on March 30, a Cabinet Minister said on Tuesday.

In a post Cabinet brief, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the marketing season would be delayed because the crop was planted late.

“Given the late start to the tobacco planting season, the tobacco marketing season will start on 30 March, 2022,” she said.

Climate change has caused extreme hot weather and severe hailstorms that are affecting this year’s tobacco crop, raising fears that the season could be under threat.

Mutsvangwa said a total of 110 102 hectares of tobacco have been planted, 18 510 hectares under irrigation and 91 592 under dryland.

“Some 122 604 tobacco growers have registered for the 2021/2022 season, compared to 145 625 growers who registered during the same period last season,” she said.

In 2021, Zimbabwe produced 185 million kilograms of tobacco, the bulk of which was exported.

New Ziana