The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union said on Saturday farmers should grow more tobacco under irrigation if the nation is to produce a quality crop and earn more foreign currency.

Union president Davison Mugabe said that irrigated tobacco was usually of high quality than the summer crop.

"Our solution to low tobacco prices is that we must get back to producing quality tobacco under irrigation," Mugabe said.

Irrigated crop used to contribute 20 percent to the total output of flue-cured tobacco when production was still at its peak.

It was now being estimated to have declined by half due to disruptions that occurred during the implementation of the land reform program that started in 2000, which saw white commercial farmers' land seized and redistributed to the landless.

Despite a decline in production over the years, tobacco remained the country's largest foreign currency earners, raking in 140.2 million US dollars from the sale of 168 million kilograms last year.

Price differentials emerged at the start of this year's selling season last Tuesday amid farmers' protests over low prices.

Growers were calling for a price above three US dollars per kilogram but were getting less than one dollar per kg for the highest grade.

Mugabe said Zimbabwe, known for producing quality tobacco, should invest heavily in irrigation infrastructure to boost the quality of its crop so that it could attract and retain buyers.

Source: Xinhua