The government is prepared to open the tobacco marketing season in February if enough crop is on hand to start the auctions, The Chronicle reported.

Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Joseph Made said auction floors are ready and could open earlier than last year's delayed start in late March, the newspaper said on its website. The Herald, also a Zimbabwe Newspapers publication, has reported 91,805 hectares have been planted with tobacco, up about 4,000 hectares from the last growing season.