ZCFU optimistic on harvests

co compared to 55 million kg achieved last season which is quite a big improvement,” said ZCFU president Wilson Nyabonda.
He said they expected the irrigated tobacco crop to reach the 3 000 kg per hectare mark, with the dryland crop of the leaf expected to reach between 1 600 and 1 700 kg per hectare.
Nyabonda said a total 52 000 hectares of tobacco, 14 000 of which were under irrigation, were planted this season.
He said a total of 1,3 million hectares of maize were planted this year and the ZCFU expected a fairly good harvest of the crop in the northern region of the country, which had received good rains.
The maize crop in the southern region of the country was however under stress because of the erratic rainfall in the region.  It would be too early, Nyabonda said, to predict the harvest of the maize crop until later in the season because of the irregular weather patterns.