Table 23. — NYASAIAND: Total planted area and production 

 of tobacco, 19-49-50 to 1962-63 



Year-" 



Planted area 



Production 



1949-50 . . 

 1950-51.. 

 1951-52.. 

 1952-53.. 

 1953-54.. 

 1954-55 . . 

 1955-56.. 

 1956-57.. 

 1957-58.. 

 1958-59.. 

 1959-60.. 

 1960-61.. 

 1961-62.. 

 1962-63^. 



Acres 



163,000 



118,300 

 135,200 

 121,276 

 105,981 

 122,081 

 135,476 

 166,800 

 171,885 

 119,504 

 102,967 

 127,082 

 136,283 



1,000 lbs, 



31,837 

 36,063 

 20,079 

 36,074 

 33,144 

 22,817 

 34,503 

 33,763 

 38,811 

 36,825 

 34,315 

 26,719 

 42,612 

 46,875 



■"- Harvested second half of the fiscal year. 

 ^ Preliminary. 



Burley-type tobacco in Nyasaland has been produced almost entirely on European- 

 owned estates. On some, tobacco is grown by hired African laborers, living on the' estate 

 or nearby. On other estates African families (who may own land elsewhere), grow tobacco 

 on a tenant or share-crop (short-ternn) basis. On a few of the estates, there may be a 

 hundred or more families, with each family growing 1 to 2 acres of burley-type tobacco. 

 With nnuch of the work performed by members of the tenant families, cash production 

 costs are relatively low. 



Even under close supervision, quality is difficult to maintain, partly because of 

 excessive rain at times during the growing season and also because humidity is often 

 high during the curing season. Curing barns for burley have not been developed very 

 extensively and growers are inclined to crowd too nnuch tobacco in the existing barns. 



The Nyasaland Farmers' Marketing Board (fornnerly the African Production and 

 Marketing Board) with its local installations and demonstration farms, has been an 

 important factor in production and marketing of tobacco and other crops by Africans. 



Nyasaland growers (Africans only) have received subsidies for tobacco production. 

 Subsidies of modest amounts have been made for fertilizers and for adoption of improved 

 farm practices. The grants were reported to be tied to, or contingent upon, the growers' 

 providing curing barns meeting certain standards. Fertilizer subsidies in 1961 amounted 

 to approximately $49,000. 



The Nyasaland Farmers' Marketing Board, several years ago (at that time the Afri- 

 can Production and Marketing Board) decided to distribute snnall two-wheeled "Scotch" 

 ox carts, with part of the cost subsidized, in order to help tobacco growers transport 

 crops to market and also haul connpost and manure. About 600 carts were brought in 

 originally, and at the tinne it was thought by the officials that this would be about all that 

 was required. Growers soon made good use of them, and about 100 new ones are now 

 distributed annually. The ox-cart subsidy was approximately $5,600 in 1961. 



25 



