A description of the development and testing of three experimental Dark Fire-Cured cultivars which carry resistance to specific tobacco diseases, in comparison with the standard Malawi Western cultivar, which does not, is given. The data indicate that, in a disease situation, considerable financial benefits will accrue to the grower from use of the new cultivar through increased yields of saleable leaf from improved quality. The implications of the release of one of these cultivars and the continuing production of Dark Fire-Cured tobacco within the small holder farming sector in Malawi are discussed.