Zimbabwe's tobacco output is expected to increase by nearly 15 percent this year to reach 150,000 tonnes, an official said on Tuesday, predicting good returns for farmers.

"The target for this year is 150 million kilogrammes," Monica Chinamasa, chairwoman of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board told lawmakers ahead of the start of the tobacco selling season next week.

The board's chief executive Andrew Matibiri said farmers would benefit from the slump in output in Brazil and the United States due to floods, with the market about 5-10 percent short of tobacco.

"This year is going to be favourable for growers," Matibiri said.

Last year's output was at 131 million kilogrammes.

Tobacco is Zimbabwe's major foreign currency earner, accounting for more that 50 percent of agricultural exports.

Output is slowly improving, following a decline prompted by President Robert Mugabe's land reforms which he said were meant to address colonial imbalances between white landowners and the black majority.