Zimbabwe - Hailstorm Destroys 22 Ha Tobacco Crop
A Marondera farmer last Sunday lost 22 hectares of tobacco to a hailstorm that lasted less than 30 minutes. The visibly distraught farmer Mr Samuel Karumazondo of Hitchey Farm yesterday told The Herald that he was still trying to come to terms with his loss. "As you can see this crop is a complete write off. I will soon have to disc it into the ground. The only solace I have is that I had insured it with a company called Tobacco Hail Insurance.
"But this too is just not enough as I will only get compensation enough to see me returning to the field next season and nothing else," he said.
Mr Karumazondo said his insurers will not give him everything that he had expected from the crop whose yield estimates were 4,2 tonnes per hectare.
The plant population in the affected parts of his farm was 20 250 plants per hactare.
The Herald could not verify the yield estimates with the Agritex extension officer of the area, as he was said to be out in the field.
Mr Karumazondo said he had planted 82ha of tobacco this season, 30ha of which had already been harvested while the other 30ha was not affected by the hailstorm.
"I have already baled some of the tobacco for the market.
"Next Tuesday I will be taking 180 bales to the floors in Harare. At the end of the season I am expecting a yield of more than 240 tonnes of the golden leaf," he said.
Mr Karumazondo said farmers should realise the importance of insuring their crops as anything could happen.
He has his own mini weather station on the farm where he records rainfall amounts throughout the season for comparison purposes.
"So far we have received 937mm this season. Hailstones have also damaged our crops on many occasions but the extent of the damage was minimal. But this time around it was different.
"For last season we only received 600mm, which we supplemented with irrigation to see our crops to maturity."
Mr Karumazondo has two dams for irrigation and also grows maize on his 327ha farm and has 300 cattle.
He bought the farm in 1984 and has been growing tobacco since then.
A Marondera farmer last Sunday lost 22 hectares of tobacco to a hailstorm that lasted less than 30 minutes. The visibly distraught farmer Mr Samuel Karumazondo of Hitchey Farm yesterday told The Herald that he was still trying to come to terms with his loss.
"As you can see this crop is a complete write off. I will soon have to disc it into the ground. The only solace I have is that I had insured it with a company called Tobacco Hail Insurance.
"But this too is just not enough as I will only get compensation enough to see me returning to the field next season and nothing else," he said.
Mr Karumazondo said his insurers will not give him everything that he had expected from the crop whose yield estimates were 4,2 tonnes per hectare.
The plant population in the affected parts of his farm was 20 250 plants per hactare.
The Herald could not verify the yield estimates with the Agritex extension officer of the area, as he was said to be out in the field.
Mr Karumazondo said he had planted 82ha of tobacco this season, 30ha of which had already been harvested while the other 30ha was not affected by the hailstorm.
"I have already baled some of the tobacco for the market.
"Next Tuesday I will be taking 180 bales to the floors in Harare. At the end of the season I am expecting a yield of more than 240 tonnes of the golden leaf," he said.
Mr Karumazondo said farmers should realise the importance of insuring their crops as anything could happen.
He has his own mini weather station on the farm where he records rainfall amounts throughout the season for comparison purposes.
"So far we have received 937mm this season. Hailstones have also damaged our crops on many occasions but the extent of the damage was minimal. But this time around it was different.
"For last season we only received 600mm, which we supplemented with irrigation to see our crops to maturity."
Mr Karumazondo has two dams for irrigation and also grows maize on his 327ha farm and has 300 cattle.
He bought the farm in 1984 and has been growing tobacco since then.
Source - http://allafrica.com/
