A tobacco farmer attending to his crop.
TOBACCO grower registrations for the 2015/16 tobacco growing season have declined by at least 20 000 farmers.
Statistics from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board show that by October 29, 2015, at least 62 000 farmers had registered for the season compared to 82 000 farmers who had registered to grow tobacco during the same period last year.
New registrations for 2015/16 season stand at 8 336 compared to 16 008 last year, indication a -48 percent decline. Last season the country had 98 thousand registered growers with only 75 thousand being active.
The decline in the number of growers has also contributed to the decline in the hectarage for the 2016 crop, planting at least 15 421 hectares.
In the communal sector, the number of growers decline from 37 779 last year to 29 400 for the 2016 tobacco crop. The figures for the A2 producers also dropped from 7 477 for the 2015 crop to 5 186 for the 2016 crop.
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