Farmers have planted the highest hectarage of tobacco in the history of the country, with 162 625 ha of flue-cured tobacco having been put for the 2025/26 cropping season.
This represents a 42 percent increase from the 114 301 ha that had been planted to tobacco during the same period last year.
The largest area put under tobacco was the 146 000 hectares in 2019 and the record-breaking output was 355 million kilogrammes produced last year.
Tobacco production has been on the increase since the land reform, with stakeholders now shifting their focus from merely producing the golden leaf to extracting value from it.
Viable prices and an organised market have motivated many farmers, particularly from the communal and A1 sectors to grow the crop.
The industry is now concentrating on value addition, with many investors expressing interest in processing the crop and exporting finished products, including cigarettes.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board weekly update, as of January 9, 137 459ha were planted as dryland crop while 25 166 ha were put under irrigation.
“This growth reflects renewed confidence by growers, improved seasonal conditions and continued efforts to strengthen production across the tobacco value chain.
“As the season progresses, adherence to good agronomic practices will be crucial in translating this expanded hectarage into high-quality leaf and higher returns at the market,” said the board on a Facebook post.
The statistics show that Mashonaland West Province has the highest hectarage of 51 117 ha, Mashonaland Centra 49 256 ha, Mashonaland East 31 417ha and Manicaland 30 133ha.
Farmers in the Midlands planted 544ha, Masvingo 118 ha and Matabeleland North 40 hectares.
“The tobacco crop across all growing areas is flourishing. As the season progresses, we encourage all tobacco growers to continue adhering to best practices in crop management, reaping, curing, grading and handling to attain the best quality. High-quality tobacco always commands better prices on the market,” said TIMB.
The board advised transporters to register for the season on time to ensure smooth and compliant tobacco movement during the marketing season.
“Proper handling is crucial to maintaining quality and value. Avoid damage during harvesting, transportation, curing and grading to ensure your tobacco reaches the market in the best possible condition. Let’s reduce post-harvest losses and preserve profits,” said TIMB.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers Association president, Mr George Seremwe, recently said the quality of this year’s tobacco was favourable and farmers were anticipating good quality till the end of reaping.
“We are also expecting good prices. High quality comes with good prices as well, so we are excited as there is a lot of crop out there and also, we are anticipating surpassing last year’s volumes 355 million kilogrammes. We expect to break the record again this season,” he said.
The structure of the tobacco sector has changed following the successful land reform programme.
Upwards of 85 percent of the crop is now produced by smallholder farmers, and 60 percent of production is from beneficiaries of the land reform programme. This contrasts with the large-scale commercial crop production model pre-2000.-erald
