Stakeholders forecast plunge in cotton output
ZIMBABWE’S cotton production for this year could be significantly lower than initially estimated due to a poor rainy season, according to the latest projections by the industry.
From the initial expected output of 116 000 tonnes, yields are likely to decline to between 55 000
tonnes and 60 000 tonnes, several industry officials who spoke to The Herald Finance & Business
said.
The Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) has not yet published revised figures.
Cottco Holdings, Zimbabwe’s biggest cotton dealer, recently projected a 26 per cent fall in total cotton intake for 2022 compared to last year citing the impact of poor weather on yield. The late onset of rains and erratic rainfall patterns led to a reduction in the expected deliveries to 85 600 tonnes compared to 116,000 tonnes in 2021. Cottco board chairman Mr Sifelani Jabangwe said last week; “Whilst national cotton output declined in 2022 mostly due to the poor rainfall experienced last year, the sector is forecast to rebound in 2023 due to renewed interest in cotton by farmers.”
In order to try and improve deliveries, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has taken a
stance to extend the 2021/22 cotton marketing season to cater for the crop affected by delayed
rains. Cotton prices have soared on international markets amid supply constraints occasioned by
the negative impact of extreme weather, which affected production globally.
International prices of the white gold have also increased as a result of reports of crop losses due to
pests and heavy rains across cotton-growing areas in Asian countries despite a larger area under
cotton this year.
“We are almost done with the buying season and only little deliveries are still trickling in areas
around Chinhoyi and the Lowveld,” one official with a leading cotton company said. “We are
expecting to wind up the season in a week or two.”
All officials largely blamed the drop in the output due to the poor season, although some observers
believe that late payments in the last two seasons could have also contributed.
Cottco, the largest cotton company has only bought 44 million while the major private players have
so far taken delivery of only 30 percent of what they bought last year, official figures gleaned by
this publication show. “These are results of climate change and obviously call for producers to do
away with old; tired varieties and adopt hybrid seeds that have the potential to improve yields by
as much as 45 percent when compared with the traditional varieties.
The hybrid seeds also require less water compared to non-hybrid varieties,” Harare-based agronomist Tobias Chuma said.
No comment could be obtained from the Agricultural Marketing Authority.
Some analysts, however, say the uptake of cotton farming is likely to rebound this year following
the payment of farmers in both the US dollar and domestic currency this year. This year’s producer
price consists of US$0,30c plus $32 per kilogramme.
Cotton is mainly grown by rural farmers, with the majority (about 85 percent) supported by the
Government under the Presidential Cotton Free Inputs Scheme.
Under the scheme, farmers get free inputs including, seed, basal and top fertilizer as well as
chemicals. Cottco, which administers the scheme also provides tillage services.
The scheme was launched in 2014 in a bid to boost yields after output plummeted to 28 000
tonnes, the lowest yield in nearly two decades after the 1992 drought.
Zimbabwe’s cotton season runs in two phases: planting between October and January and a
harvesting and marketing phase that runs from May to September.-The Herald
