The Tobacco Research Board (TRB) has developed four drought-tolerant tobacco varieties to boost production in the sector, reports NewsDay.

As Zimbabwe remains on target for a record tobacco marketing season, TRB chief executive officer Frank Magama has revealed that the Board has been working on meeting the 300 million kg target by eliminating “wrong” varieties of tobacco and introducing new drought-tolerant varieties.
“Just to show you that we haven’t abandoned tobacco, I think in March, we released four varieties that are already in the market and these varieties actually fit into the tobacco transformation plan where we need to go to 300 million kilogrammes,” Magama said.
“Already, you see that it’s quite possible, but what we have done with these varieties is that they are drought-tolerant. So, they will be able to safeguard the yields that we are currently obtaining within the tobacco growing districts, you know the usual one, but more importantly, we have put more hectarage in the amount of tobacco that can be grown.”
Zimbabwe has already broken its previous record for tobacco deliveries after reaching 260 million kg and according to numbers from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB), this indicates a 55 per cent rise compared to last year.
By 2025, the nation hopes to produce 300 million kg of tobacco, raise value addition and beneficiation to around 30 per cent through the manufacture of cigarettes and develop the industry to USD 5 billion under the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation strategy, reports NewsDay.