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Rainfall pattern favours tobacco
By
Aubrey Mchulu - 05-02-2002 |
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Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) General Manager Godfrey Chapola says the current rainfall pattern is promising for tobacco, although actual estimates are yet to be worked out by the end of this week.
Chapola said in an interview from Lilongwe yesterday that tobacco, the country’s major foreign exchange earner, requires moderate rainfall with sunny intervals as has presently been the trend.
“The rainfall pattern so far is very good. It’s fine for tobacco because we haven’t had too much rainfall yet,” he said.
But Chapola said actual tobacco yield estimates were yet to be worked out as the first survey was inconclusive because of late transplanting of seedlings due to the late on-set of the rains in most tobacco-growing areas across the country.
He said in spite of the tobacco-growing season starting late, the intention to grow tobacco was high among farmers.
In 2001, tobacco yields dropped by 15 percent on the 2000 yields due to lack of inputs and weight loss in the tobacco leaf attributed to heavy rains.
The country’s earnings from tobacco have been declining during the growing seasons of 1998, 1999 and 2000 prompting Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor Elias Ngalande Banda to challenge the tobacco industry to seek viable farming methods and consider investing its funds in other markets outside the sector to raise its profile.
Tobacco revenue declined to US$164.4 million in 2000 from US$187.1 million in 1999 and US$1197.5 million in 1998.
“If the total realisations of the past three seasons are anything to go by, the industry is on a declining trend in terms of its contribution to the national economy.
“First, the industry must intensify research for milder tobacco brands which are becoming the industry standard,” Ngalande Banda told the 13th annual congress of the Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) in Lilongwe last year.
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