AFTER realising that his neighbour had earned ‘big bucks’ from his two-hectare tobacco crop during the 2014 marketing season, Karoi farmer, Crispen Urengwa decided to try his hand in the golden leaf.
Come the cropping season, Urengwa who had been disappointed by the late payment for his maize delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), put one hectare under tobacco with hopes of cashing in just like his neighbour.
Unbeknown to the ‘new tobacco grower’, there were regulations guiding the production and marketing of tobacco.
The 2015 tobacco marketing season commenced and Urengwa brought his first bales to the auction floors, only to be turned back as he did not have the required documents and had not adhered to the marketing procedures.
Urengwa’s case is not only peculiar to him, but to a host of new and old tobacco growers who are yet to grasp the tobacco marketing regulations.
Unlike the sale of other crops such as maize, cotton and small grains where the farmer engages the buyer and not much requirements are needed, the same cannot be said about tobacco.
Past marketing seasons were characterised by congestion with some farmers having to spend days and weeks camped outside floors without having sold their crop.
Prior to the Land Reform Programme in 2000, tobacco production was a preserve of white farmers and this meant locals were shut out from the process hence the minimal knowledge of how the marketing process is conducted.
Farmers’ premiums have in the past been eroded as they spend days at the auction floors before their crop has been sold.
Over the years many farmers have taken up tobacco production and stakeholders are putting in place measures to ensure that new growers get the required information
It is mandatory that every tobacco grower existing or new registers with the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) before the start of the cropping season.
According to TIMB to register a farmer is required to pay US$20 and submit the farm offer letter or a letter from the headman bearing the AREX stamp.
The farmer also submits their estimated hectarage and yield for the coming season.
These statistics are used by the board in estimating the total yield for the year and putting in place logistics for the marketing season.
After registration, a farmer is then issued with a grower’s number which will be used during the marketing season.
Farmers like Urengwa who are found wanting come the marketing season with no grower’s number or a renewed grower’s number pays a US$100 penalty fee.
With all the required documents in place and before bringing the crop to the floors one has to book in advance.
Failure to book beforehand results in a farmer being turned back.
Some farmers then resort to camping at the auction floors, while they do the booking process.
With all these procedures in place, most farmers fall short of the requirements as they are not yet well versed with the processes.
Farmers have bemoaned the low prices at the auction floors, however, experts contend that most crops fetch lower prices because of poor presentation.
Before the auctioning of the golden leaf, there are classifiers who put grades on the bales which guide the auctioneer when conducting sales.
The classifiers check the leaf type, quality and colour.
Some farmers are often confused by the classes and markings which will be on the sale sheet of their bales after sale for example P1L or L2O.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) crop specialist Simbarashe Muchena said it was important for farmers to understand the classification process.
He said the first symbol is for the position on the plant and this was represented by a letter.
“‘P’ is for primings, ‘X’ for lugs, ‘A’ for strips or scrap, ‘L’ for leaf and ‘T’ for short leaf,” he said.
“The second symbol is for quality represented by a number with number one for fine, two for good, three for fair, four for low and five for poor.
“The third symbol is for colour and is represented by letters.
“The letter ‘L’ is for lemon, ‘O’ for orange, ‘R’ for light mahogany, ‘S’ for dark mahogany, ‘G’ for green and ‘E’ for pale lemon.”
Muchena said there were other special factors used to describe the state of the crop and these were represented by letters.
“FA is for higher maturity and spotted, ‘F’ for higher maturity, ‘A’ for spotted, ‘J’ for slightly discoloured, ‘V’ for greenish, ‘K’ for substandard, ‘Z’ for slick, ‘Y’ for Guinea Fowl spot, ‘D’ for harsh natured or sun baked and ‘D’ for scorched.”
Other remarks, he said, normally used for rejected bales included ‘BGR’ for badly handled, ‘BMR’ for mixed leaves, ‘DR’ for damaged, ‘LR’ for mouldy, ‘KR’ for funked, ‘MR’ for mixed hands, ‘NDR’ for undeclared split, ‘NR’ for no sale, ‘RR’ for rejected and ‘SR’ for stem rot.
Remarks declared for defects include ‘BAD’ for badly handled, ‘FD’ for funked and ‘LD’ for mouldy.
With farmers ready to reap the hard work of the season, it is hoped the regulations guiding the process would be adhered to and understood so that farmers will not continue to lose out.