Flue-cured Virginia seed sales as of July were 27 per cent below last year as tobacco growers reacted to adverse weather that lowered return this season and a new payment system, the Zimbabwe Herald reported.

Seed sold as of 1 July was enough to plant 62,255 hectares compared with 85,776 hectares one year ago, according to Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board data cited by the newspaper on its website. Seed sales in grammes were 373,530 compared with 514,660.