Zimbabwe tobacco growers try alternatives to methlyl bromide

Zimbabwe's Tobacco Research Board has trained 1,334 tobacco growers across the country in the use of float trays in an effort to phase out methyl bromide.

The TRB divisional manager, Mr. Meanwell Gudu, said methyl bromide was the mostly used tobacco seedbed fumigant in the country, but in terms of the country's obligation under the Montreal Protocol, its use would be curtailed and eventually eliminated by 2015.

Gudu said that 831 farmers indicated their willingness to participate in the 2006 seedbed season by entering into a contract with the Tobacco Research Board. "Only 580 managed to collect trays and plastic due to fuel shortages. A total of 179,302 trays and equivalent plastics were collected. The collected material covered 2,490 hectares. This represented 15 tonnes of methyl bromide being phased out in the 2006 season. However, not all material collected was used. A total of 45 per-cent material collected was used.

“This translates to 1,116 ha of tobacco phasing out of methyl bromide. The average success rate for those farmers who established the float beds was 84 percent, assuming 65 percent production of ideal seedlings by the farmers," Gudu said. He said the Zimbabwean tobacco had to compete for markets with similar styles produced in Brazil, USA, Zambia and elsewhere. Therefore a sustainable competitive advantage was required in an increasingly globalised market with heightened environmental awareness and perceptions by tobacco buyers, stringent legislation by export destinations and demands by customers for a cleaner product produced with the least damage to the environment.

"Against this background, therefore, all chemical-based interventions and alternatives may not be available for too long," Gudu said.

The float tray system is an environmentally cleaner option of seedling production that has been tried, tested and used successfully in many tobacco-growing countries such as Brazil, Malawi and USA. "No methyl bromide is used in Brazil and USA in tobacco seedling production, where the float tray system is used. Noting the comparatively high entry costs in tray seedling production, especially the cost of the trays, the United Nations Industrial Deve-loment Organisation (UNIDO) offered to provide free trays and plastics and training of growers. The project started in 2006," Gudu said.

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