Obert Chifamba, Agri — IN exactly 15 days, the 2025 tobacco marketing season will officially get underway.
The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) has since proclaimed March 5 as the date on which the auction floors will get the action going with their contract counterparts joining the fray a day later.
Today my offering will focus on a contentious subject that I have talked about at the start of every tobacco marketing season, but it does not seem to be making much impact.
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The crux of the matter is that farmers must avoid making shortcuts, as they prepare their produce and take it to the floors.
In essence, taking shortcuts means foregoing some important processes some of which must not be omitted if the marketing process is to flow smoothly.
These shortcuts, whether taken at the last stage, beginning or middle of the production process have a way of coming back to haunt the farmer, making it always better to be safe than sorry.
Taking shortcuts in agronomic processes always have dire effects on the quality of the eventual product.
There is this clique of farmers that is in the habit of playing it dishonestly to the point of trying to have inputs meant for a hectare covering five.
Effectively, this means the crop is short-changed and will therefore not grow to the expected levels. By so doing, such farmers will only be cheating themselves out of better earnings.
When it comes to marketing, the same thing happens again, as they in some cases under declare the tonnage of produce and find a way of selling it without allowing their contractors to collect all that is due to them.
Of course, they have always argued that contractors are also not saints in this regard, as some of them do not give farmers full input packages yet they want the latter to hand over everything although growers would have used their own resources to supplement what they would have been given.
It is important to diligently execute all processes for a good end-product.
If it is curing, the process must be done properly to the last letter with the grading also expected to be standard.
Where the farmer has no capacity to do any process independently, it does not harm to enlist help from those with the expertise.
Trying to manipulate a process has always been known to backfire in some way.
The list of alibis for not repaying loans is always long and endless but the credibility gap will always catch up with the perpetrator.
One other important observation is that after the curing and grading, it is logical for every farmer to store the tobacco and just wait for the opening of the floors to start trading.
It is, however, during this interlude that some farmers are undoing a good job they would have spent the season performing by improperly storing the product.
There are many unsavoury things that can happen to stored crop produce if the farmer is not careful.
We have heard a lot of stories on how some stored crop products end up being scorched by fire on the backdrop of reckless handling.
In some cases, the crop can even be ruined by pests that thrive under poor storage conditions, which eventually sees the quality of the product flying out through the window. Effectively, this means the crop will fetch a low price when it could have scored even higher with proper storage care.
This care should end on the part of the farmer after he has delivered it to the floors where it will then become the prerogative of the buyer to take over.
Every season there are numerous stories of how some farmers lost produce to either robbers or elements of the weather en route to the floors but this as well does not seem to be making some impact and push them to change such habits.
We know farmers always want to maximise on profits but sometimes the way they go about it leaves them exposed more to losses than gains.
Many farmers do not want to spend a lot of money on reliable and professional transporters, and end up engaging fly-by night service providers.
Most of such service provider's vehicles cannot be seen on the roads during day and therefore prefer to go to the floors at night.
These nocturnal escapades have in most cases ended in tears for many farmers bringing to the fore the need to always do things properly and according to the book.
It is important for farmers to appreciate the fact that only one silly mistake may spoil a potentially rewarding season and put to waste all the resources and efforts invested into the production of the crop.
This makes it crucial for farmers to make sure they maintain their vigilance from the point of establishing a seedbed to the point the crop is sold at the floors.
Last season's good prices must not lull farmers to sleep thinking the same thing will happen this time around automatically.
Remember, last season there was a slump in production owing to the drought that affected most global producers of the golden leaf which created a high demand versus limited supplies.
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If this year records high production volumes, then it means the best leaf will get the highest price too and there will be no room for buyers to accept mediocrity.
The long and short of my argument is that farmers must worry over the quality of their tobacco in the same manner a dog worries over the safety of it bone.
I have observed that this season, there were many farmers who joined tobacco farming encouraged by what their compatriots got from last season's crop.
Some are in tobacco for the first time while others had been producers of the crop at some point and had opted out for various reasons.
It is important for these farmers to maintain the current bubble by making sure they do their activities to book and sell a quality product at the floors to earn good money.
Without this, they may once again go through some disillusionment, which they will blame on the merchants.
The trick is to make sure they deliver the best product and leave no room for merchants to find excuses for not offering good prices.
Quality products always have a way of claiming their rightful position on the market.
One day, the gods will smile on the farmers and merchants will offer prices in tandem with the quality of delivered products.
