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redu-ce pressure during the marketing season.
This season, the Tobacco Sales Floor is the only auction floor which is functional as the Zimbabwe Industry and Tobacco Auction Centre’s licence was cancelled.
Boka Tobacco Auction Floor is undergoing some renovations.
Tobacco Association of Zimbabwe secretary-general, Mr Stan Kasukuwere said farmers were living like destitutes due to the pressure at the floors.
“TSF alone can not cater for the whole of Zimbabwe. The number of tobacco growers is increasing each year and Government should ensure farmers have access to several markets to reduce pressure,” he said.
Mr Kasukuwere called for more buyers so that there is efficiency at the floors.
“Contractors should also be allowed to buy from farmers at the auction to increase competition and also reduce the time spent by farmers selling their crop.”
Some farmers said they were being forced to cancel other plans as they spend more time at the floors.
They said they were losing money at the floors as they buy expensive food at the floors.
A long winding queue of vehicles intending to drop off bales of tobacco has formed at the auction floors.
Farmers who had managed to book on Friday were abandoned by transporters and could only sell their crop tomorrow.
“We are now being forced to use carts and wheelbarrows to get our crop into the floors,” a farmer from Mhangura said.
Another farmer said: “We came on Thursday and were booked for Tuesday so the transporter can not wait for us to sell our tobacco next week.
“Of course there is accommodation but there are too many of us for the accommodation.
“Besides we can’t leave our bales in the queue and go to sleep inside the building otherwise we lose all the bales,” said Mr John Donhorere from Rusape.
Farmers who are delivering their crop without having made prior booking arrangements are also increasing the congestion at the floors.
TSF and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board have repeatedly called for farmers to book first before they travel to the floors.
However, some farmers have ignored the call leading to the chaos.
Stakeholders in the tobacco industry had proposed to decentralise tobacco floors to provinces. No proposals from operators have been made for such a move.
This season, TIMB de-centralised its operations by opening regional offices at Chinhoyi for Mashonaland West, Mvurwi for Mashonaland Central, Marondera (Mashonaland East) and Rusape for Manicaland province.
These regional offices are offering grower registration services, sales booking services and tobacco extension services.
Some farmers have suggested that the booking and registration facilities be decentralised to ward level.
To ease pressure on the floors, TSF has increased selling teams to four and opened three booking places at the floors.
About 150 to 200 million kilogrammes of tobacco are expected to be sold this season.
So far 15,9 million kilogrammes of tobacco worth US$48,2 million have been sold.
The tobacco has been sold at an average price of US$3,03 per kilogramme.