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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 23669, member: 2262"] Delta Reports Drop in Sorghum Beer Sales Due to Drought. Zimbabwe's Delta Corporation said its sorghum beer sales fell 10 percent over nine months. The beer maker blamed the drop on last year's El Nino drought. The company saw a small rise of two percent in local sales from October through December. But the bigger picture shows trouble. Total beer volumes dropped eight percent in that quarter. This came after exports stopped, and rural buyers had less money to spend. Delta plans to grow more sorghum this year. They increased their farming area from 13,000 to 13,750 hectares. Good rains should help boost production after last year's poor harvest. The company has been making Chibuku beer, Zimbabwe's most popular traditional drink since 1962. It comes in two types: Scud and Super. Last year, Delta added ginger and pineapple flavors to its range, joining banana flavor, original Super, and Scud. Farmers across Zimbabwe have planted more sorghum than ever. The government reported on January 20 that they covered 391,251 hectares, beating last year's area by 221 percent. The government and private groups want to plant 418,000 hectares this season. They're almost there. Farmers have planted 94 percent of this goal. Private contractors passed their target. They planted 14,707 hectares. The state-run farming program did even better. It planted 205,446 hectares, beating its goal by 133 percent. Independent farmers added 156,049 hectares, and state farms grew 14,962 hectares more. Two regions, Matabeleland South and North, hit all their targets. Masvingo leads with 85,164 hectares planted. Manicaland follows with 58,526 hectares. Mashonaland Central planted 55,857 hectares. The future looks bright. More than 1.2 million farmers received sorghum seeds this year. Most crops look healthy. Farmers planted 85 percent of the grain in December. With the good rains, these plants grow strong. [/QUOTE]

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