Cotton production bulks 30 pc nationwide

The hectarage under cotton production increased by nearly 30 percent this year as the U.S dollar payment lured more farmers into the farming of the “white gold.”

Having been partly paid in U.S. dollars last year, Government announced the cotton farmers would be fully paid in foreign currency, with the lowest D grade fetching US40c per kg.

The price for grade C, B and A was pegged at US41c, US43c, and US46c per kg respectively, making the country one of the highest-paying producers.

Unlike the previous seasons when some farmers were not paid on time; most growers received their payments upon delivery of their crop last season.

Munyaradzi Chikasha, the acting accounting officer of Cottco, which finances about 85 percent of the cotton under the Presidential Inputs Scheme, said in an interview this week the established hectarage increased to 280 000 from about 200 000.

More than 360 000 farmers benefited from free inputs under the scheme, running for eight consecutive years.

“The season is progressing well and we have already started preparations for the next intake season,” said Chikasha. Under the scheme, farmers get free basal and top dressing fertiliser, seed as well as chemicals.

The State-assisted scheme has seen an average of 300 000 households receiving free inputs.

Despite occasional production dips during drought seasons, cotton output expanded from 28 000 tonnes in 2014, the lowest in nearly two decades to 145 000 tonnes in the 2017/18 season. Apart from free inputs, farmers also receive tillage services and agronomy support. The scheme helped to fill in the gap left by private contractors who scaled down funding citing poor recoveries due to side marketing.

The scheme has helped to revive the cotton industry, a major source of employment for rural farmers.

At peak, Zimbabwe produced 351 000 tonnes of cotton in the 2010/11 season and the Government has since set a target to raise production to 300 000 tonnes by 2025.

Zimbabwe mainly uses open-pollinated varieties but indications are that production could go up to as much as 600 000 tonnes with the use of hybrids seeds.

Experts are urging the Government to ramp up the use of hybrid seeds to boost productivity and cut the risk of crop failures as OPVs are getting more susceptible to diseases.-ebusinessweekly