Online Reporter
Patience Maturure and Felistas Tavarera
Agriculture Reporters
THE Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has unveiled the 2025 national seed cotton master boxes, highlighting the need for enhanced quality and grading to boost the competitiveness of local cotton on the global market.
In a speech read on his behalf by the authority’s business development manager, Mr Edgar Mudokwani, during the unveiling of the 2025 seed cotton standard grading boxes in Harare last week, AMA acting chief executive officer Mr Jonathan Mukuruba said the 2025 national seed cotton master boxes were used to grade seed cotton into four categories: A, B, C and D.
“As many of you are aware, seed cotton grading in Zimbabwe is conducted in line with Statutory Instrument 142 of 2009. This regulation outlines the national grading standards classifying seed cotton into grades A, B, C and D.
“These grades are represented in the national standard grading boxes, a set of manually prepared benchmarks that define the maximum allowable faults in each grade,” he said.
The cotton industry faced quality challenges, with most of the crop falling into lower grades due to poor agronomic practices, inadequate pest control and lack of grade differential payments, he added.
“Given that these physical samples degrade over time, the boxes are refurbished annually to ensure they remain accurate and reliable.
“Over the years, the quality of our seed cotton has been declining, primarily due to key factors such as erratic rainfall and drought, which normally leads to fibre discolouration, leaf trash and contamination during harvesting,” he noted.
Mr Mukuruba revealed the 2024 marketing season saw disappointing results, with only 4 percent of seed cotton rated as Grade A and five percent as Grade B. The majority, 91 percent fell into Grades C and D.
“These figures translate to a mere 462 172 kilogrammes out of 11 912 000 kilogrammes being Grade A.
“We must intensify our efforts as stakeholders, from policymakers to merchants and farmers to promote quality production, facilitate grade-based payment systems and strengthen farmer training in grading and handling practices.”
He called for stakeholders to work together to promote quality production, implement grade-based payment systems and enhance farmer training in grading and handling practices.
He added that with the 2025 marketing season underway, efforts to improve the industry’s performance were also being made. AMA has established 697 buying points across the country and expects merchants to display grade results at all buying points within seven days.
“As AMA, we expect our merchants to ensure grade differential payments are made before November 30, 2025. We also expect our merchants to distribute wool packs to contracted farmers well in advance to reduce contamination risks.
“But obviously, this is not a one-way street. We also call upon farmers to uphold ethical practices, avoid nesting bells with stones or wetting seed cotton to increase weight. Such actions significantly reduce cotton quality and damage our collective reputation,” he said.
Mr Mukuruba also warned merchants against operating outside the law and encouraged farmers to maintain the quality of their seed cotton. Cotton Council of Zimbabwe national coordinator Mr Clifford Mangena said the event was of importance for improved quality cotton production, with a focus on improving standards to meet export and local market demands.
“Even local spinners demand high-quality lint. This grading system helps farmers understand the standards and rewards them with better prices for higher grades. For instance, Grade A cotton fetches 42 cents while Grade C gets 30 cents, marking a 12-cent difference. This incentivises farmers to produce better-quality cotton,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter