Increased cotton output #zimbabwe

THE 2013/2014 cotton production estimates show that
cotton growers will produce between 180 000 and 200 000
tonnes of cotton this year, up from 140 000 tonnes last year.
Although other experts in the industry said they were still
assessing the crop, the Zimbabwe National Farmers Union
said they were definite that the crop yield would be at 200
000 tonnes, earning the country at least US$200 000
million.
Cotton Producers and Marketers Association president
Morris Mukwe said there was still a lot of cotton on the
ground, with farmers in the Lowveld still harvesting their
crop. "In areas such as Muzarabani and some parts of
Gokwe, farmers are still picking their crop but production is
estimated at 200 000 tonnes," Mukwe said.
"Despite some hiccups at the start of the season, selling
has been going on smoothly with the highest price being US
$0,65 per kilogramme increasing from US$0,40 per kg at
the start of the season." To produce one kg of cotton,
farmers need US$0,54 of which US$0,40 per kg was
considered unprofitable by most farmers who at the start of
the season were demanding US$0,60 per kg.
Last year's producer price was pegged at US$0,35 per kg.
About 200 000 small-scale farmers are engaged in cotton
growing, with 98 percent of the crop being produced under
various contract farming schemes. At its peak the country
produced a record 353 000 tonnes of cotton, with the lowest
having been recorded last year. The country has the
potential to produce at least 600 000 tonnes of cotton at an
average yield of between 1 500kg and 2 000 kg per hectare.
Yield per hectare declined to 0,5 kg in the small-scale
farming areas.
"The 2014 cotton marketing season has otherwise been
going on smoothly except for a few problems from the
Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) issuing tickets of up
to US$2 000 per day to buyers who were buying cotton
directly from farmers at their homesteads instead of the
common buying points.
"This led to a break from selling for at least five days
because AMA was failing to respect the Competition and
Tariffs Commission judgement that buyers should negotiate
prices with farmers and this cannot take place at the
common buying points but at the farmer's homestead,"
Mukwe said.
Growth in smallholder cotton production during the 1990s
was driven by the development of the Cotton Company of
Zimbabwe credit scheme and by active promotion of the
crop in small scale growing areas of Gokwe, Sanyati,
Guruve, Muzarabani, Mt Darwin and Checheche. Despite
buyers pointing the volatility of the international markets,
with the Cotlook A Index quoting a price of US$0,81 per
pound, the 2014 cotton prices have been described as better
than expected.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice president Berean Mukwende
said the lowest price to be quoted so far was US$0,50 per
kg compared to last season when US$0,50 was the highest
price. "Although there are fears that in most parts of
Mashonaland production has gone down, estimates show
that production for 2014 will be between 180 000 and 200
000 tonnes. Most farmers abandoned cotton growing for
other crops such as maize and tobacco," Mukwende said.
"Government should therefore come up with a policy to
stabilise production so that in the agricultural sector we do
not experience these ups and downs in terms of output.
Although production is better this year, we need to improve
on yields per hectare and as a nation we should explore
things like BT (biotech) cotton because we are already
lagging behind when it comes to technology transfer
especially for crops like cotton that are traded on the
international market," he added.