Zimbabwe's annual tobacco selling season began on an upbeat note Tuesday when a bumper crop went under the hammer, attributed by industry officials to good prices and more farmers.

In all, 77 million kilogrammes (77,000 metric tonnes) of tobacco were sold, an increase from 56 million sold last year, officials said.
Traditionally, tobacco sales start in April but this year they were brought forward at the request of small scale growers, who said they needed the money from the sales to finance their next crop.

Last year, tobacco earnings contributed 26 percent towards Zimbabwe's gross domestic product, but the figure is expected to be higher this year.