Cotton farmers urged to up production

Tawanda Mangoma in Chiredzi
The Cotton Producers and Marketers Association has challenged its members who benefited from the Presidential Free Cotton Inputs Scheme Programme to redouble their efforts to stand a chance to win top honours.

This comes after the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) recently honoured last season’s best cotton farmer from Chiredzi Mr Rangarirai Muzivirwa.

The association’s chair Mr Steward Mubonderi said every farmer should strive to be the best cotton farmer for the 2018/19 season.

“We are so delighted as cotton farmers that Cottco has promised us that the best cotton farmer for the 2018/19 season will be honoured,” he said.

“Last season, one of us Mr Rangarirai Muzivirwa from Chiredzi was given a tractor, plough, trailer and inputs for producing the highest yield in the whole country.”

Mr Mubonderi said farmers should target producing over 4 000kg of cotton per hectare to get meaningful returns from their operations.

He blasted some private cotton merchants who have only issued seed to their contracted farmers.

“In as much as we want private cotton merchants, some of them have a tendency of only giving farmers seed and disappear without providing other inputs such as fertilisers and other essential inputs which enhance growth of the crop,” he said.

“In some areas, we have a fall armyworm problem just because some companies are not giving their farmers herbicides and this will escalate the problem. We want everyone to produce for the nation, but this can only be guaranteed if we are given adequate inputs.”

The country’s cotton industry nearly collapsed during the past decade due to side marketing, under funding of farmers and the fall in the producer prices.