Alicia Kadzviti
Agriculture Correspondent
More than 27 000 hectares of tobacco have been planted for the 2025/26 season as transplanting of the dryland crop intensifies in most parts of the country.
The area planted so far has increased by 22 percent.
This comes as the industry is earmarking growth as the country targets a US$7 billion industry by 2030.
According to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), weekly update, the total area put under the golden leaf has expanded to 27 215 hectares, an increase from the 22 392 hectares during the same period last season.
The bulk of the crop is under irrigation, with farmers having put 23 517 ha under irrigated crop, while 3 698 ha is under dryland.
Tobacco production has been on the increase during the past years due to viable prices and an efficient payment system.
Mashonaland East has registered an increase of 41 percent in the area put under tobacco.
Farmers in the province planted 8 260 hectares this season, up from 5 878 hectares last year.
Manicaland registered a 17 percent rise with a total planted area of 9 498 hectares up from 8 598 hectares last season.
This is followed by Mashonaland West, which recorded a 15.4 percent increase with 4 227 hectares put under the crop.
Mashonaland Central also posted an 8 percent gain, reaching 5 098 hectares from 4 705 last season.
Midlands and Masvingo registered 100 percent increase from 20 hectares to 40 hectares and zero to 92 hectares respectively.
Zimbabwe is the largest producer of tobacco in Africa and is ranked fourth globally after China, India and Brazil.
The industry supports over 130 000 households and contributes to more than half of the country’s agricultural exports.
Last season, the country realised US$1.2 billion through tobacco sales. More than 85 percent of tobacco is produced by small-scale farmers and over 60 percent are beneficiaries of the land reform programme.
According to the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2 (AFSRTS 2) to boost production, focus will now be on increasing localisation of financing of the crop, enhancing value addition and beneficiation, and increasing production to the new target of 500 million kg annually by 2030, while creating a US$7 billion industry.
New types of tobacco, such as naturally cured, dark fire cured, cigar and shisha will also be promoted for niche markets.
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