12 reasons why you should switch to farming tobacco?

12 reasons why you should switch to farming tobacco?

Farmers all over the world are frequently confronted with the question as to should they grow tobacco or the other crops. In Zimbabwe, toba... 1:24:00 AM

Farmers all over the world are frequently confronted with the question as to should they grow tobacco or the other crops. In Zimbabwe, tobacco growers are actually among the biggest earners – pocketing more than maize farmers and wheat farmers.

But becoming a tobacco grower is not easy as farming tobacco is labour intensive operation. There is also a need for specialised tools and infrastructure in order to successfully grow tobacco. Needless to say, if you are going to farm your tobacco in a remote area where there are no developed transportation means – you will have to bear the huge cost of transporting the cured leaf to market.

Let us look on the bright side though. Below are some of the strongest arguments in favour of tobacco growing.

• Tobacco is a legally traded agricultural commodity for which, in global terms, there continues to be brisk demand.
• Tobacco can grow on soils with low fertility, subject to leaching of nutrients and erosion. Some tobaccos, such as the Oriental type, are also best grown in arid environments. Such conditions are invariably not suitable for successful production of other crops.
• In many areas where tobacco is grown, crops grow after the cultivation of tobacco, benefiting from the residual fertilisers in the soil.
• Tobacco growing is a labour- intensive activity that requires vast expertise of farming techniques. The 'know-how' these farmers acquire in tobacco growing frequently proves invaluable in the cultivation of other crops.
• Being less perishable than most other potential alternative crops, tobacco can easily be stored.
• There is no better cash crop in most environments suited to tobacco.
• Tobacco enjoys very high price stability.
• As a rule, sale is guaranteed and price negotiated or determined by free auctions.
• Tobacco is, in many areas of the world, the only crop paid for in cash on delivery, or very shortly after.
• Tobacco yields high returns per acre – making it suitable for farmers with a small plot of land.
• Successful production of other crops and animal rearing is often more feasible when a high value crop, such as tobacco, is part of the farming system.
• The wealth generated by leaf tobacco production helps to improve quality of life and attracts educational, health and social facilities in, otherwise, relatively impoverished, rural areas.