Zimbabwe: cotton output to increase
19/03/2012
Addressing delegates at the two-day Congress, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister Seiso Moyo said production of cotton had been increasing since the mid-1990s following the disbanding of the Cotton Marketing Board which had a monopoly in the sector.
“The preliminary estimates for the current season are between 265,000 and 280,000 metric tonnes of seed cotton,” he said.
The congress was held under the theme, “Moving towards zero contamination”. In 2011 Zimbabwe’s cotton growers earned a total of $200 million.
"I wish to urge the cotton fraternity not to price themselves out of the industry by setting unviable seed cotton prices that would force farmers to invest in alternative cash crops," Mr Moyo said.
He said the government would continue to support cotton production in the country. Speaking at the same occasion, ACA chairman Mr Iya Mohammed said Africa should unite and fight injustices in the world trade.
“We need to come up with technical committees to improve the competitiveness of African cotton and find strategies since over 27 million people on the continent survive directly or indirectly through cotton production and its value chain,” he said.
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