Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera, Specialist Writer
PERSISTENT rains have disturbed the disbursement of cotton inputs, with the five registered contractors having jointly distributed inputs enough to cover 75 000 hectares, just 28 percent of the targeted 269 000 ha.
Statistics released by the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) dated November 27, show that contractors had disbursed 1,128 tonnes of cotton seed with the potential to cover 75 198 hectares to 43 787 growers.
The largest contractor, Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco), is the only contractor that has distributed 655 tonnes of lime and 75 tonnes of basal fertiliser, respectively, in addition to seed.
Cottco distributed the largest seed quantity of 584 tonnes, with the potential to do 38 933 ha, accounting for 22 percent of their set target of 180 000 hectares.
Agri-Value Chain (AVC) distributed the second largest seed tonnage of 329, with a potential to do 21 932 ha, thereby overshooting their set target of 20 000 hectares by 10 percent.
Southern Cotton Company (SCC) has achieved 40 percent of its target hectarage of 19 000 by disbursing seed enough to cover 7 638 ha.
Alliance Ginneries, with 6,058 ha, has achieved only 17 percent of the targeted 35 000 ha. Cangrow comes last after disbursing 10 tonnes of seed, enough to plant 638ha, amounting to four percent of its targeted 15 000 ha.
Cotton Producers and Marketers Association (CPMA) chairman, Mr Stewart Mubonderi, raised the alarm yesterday, saying the distribution of inputs was rather slow among contractors, yet the rainy season had already set in.
“We are worried that the distribution of inputs to farmers is very slow. We want all growers to get their inputs in time to plant with the first rains for a good harvest,” he said.
For the Presidential Input Scheme, Mr Mubonderi cited bureaucracy between the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and Cottco as delaying the process.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers union (ZCFU) cotton commodity chairman, Mr Clemency Gondo, agreed that input disbursement was slow and irregular.
“The disbursement of cotton inputs by the merchants is very sporadic. They are very much behind and I would want to believe their budget is suppressed,” he said.
Meanwhile, AMA recently issued Regulatory Circular No. 3 of 2025, cited as the Agricultural Marketing Authority (Regulatory Circular on Cotton Inputs Distribution and applicable penalties), which lays rules and regulations for input distribution and mandates all registered cotton contractors to abide by them.
“The system seeks to minimise and eliminate human interference within the distribution and marketing processes.
“It is expected that all contractors will abide by the rules and regulations stated for the distribution of inputs,” said AMA.
Among the rules and regulations is that each contractor shall be mandated to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Authority at the beginning of each season, which outlines the contractors’ responsibilities.
Also, every contractor shall be mandated to use the authority’s central registration system for the onboarding of its farmers.
Lastly, each contractor shall ensure that they have a valid contract signed between themselves and the farmers, highlighting the contracted hectarage and the distributed inputs.
“This contract should be signed in triplicate, with one copy being for the contractor, one for the farmer, and the remaining one expected to be submitted to the Authority on or before December 31 of each year,” continued the notice.
AMA warned that it would impose fines and penalties on those who violate regulations, depending on the scale of the offence.
Zimbabwe is targeting cotton yields of 189,000 tonnes during the 2025/26 season, an increase of 575 percent from this year’s 28,9 million kg.
