Burley tobacco output below demand—Survey
A recent crop survey has found that burley tobacco, grown by a majority of smallholder farmers, is below demand while flue cured, the preserve of large estate growers, is slightly above the required quantity.
The current demand for burley stands at 154 million kilogrammes (kg) while that for flue cured is at 20 million kg, according to Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) figures.
Earlier, growers said they would produce 202 million kg of burley and 27 million kg of flue cured tobacco.
However, TCC technical and operations manager Frederick Kamvazina, in an interview on Saturday, said a crop survey has established that burley production is at 150 million kg, creating a shortfall of four million kg, while flue cured expected output is slightly above 20 million kg.
He said production has mainly been affected by weather conditions, adding that the survey established that in some areas, the rains were equal to what is expected the whole season.
However, Kamvazina said more surveys will be conducted to establish the quantities, but the volumes will still depend on weather conditions.
“I cannot say whether we will meet the targets or not. The weather will be a deciding factor on whether we will meet the target,” he said.
Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) president Reuben Maigwa said they are convinced that there will be low production this year due to weather conditions.
He, however, said the quality of tobacco in the field is good, which should help farmers get better prices if they grade their tobacco well.
Maigwa said low production will also work to the advantage of the growers as prices increase when there is low supply and decrease when there is high supply.
“We expect to have good prices this year because we will have low output. Most of the times when we have a lot of tobacco, prices go down.
“The tobacco in the field is also of high quality, so we expect very good prices. Usually, the low prices are not justifiable.”
Tobacco is Malawi’s main export crop, contributing about 60 percent to foreign exchange earnings and 13 percent to GDP.
