adminopened in April this year.
Last year, a total of 349 000 tonnes of cotton were sold since the selling season started late in July due to a price impasse between growers and merchants.
This year ginners and farmers agreed on a minimum price of US35 cents/kg.
AMA chief executive Mr Rockie Mutenha said competition should prevail among ginners.
“Any efforts by any buyer or association to thwart competition will result in AMA taking firm action against the offender. Competition is encouraged at common buying points, once the farmer has fulfilled his or her contractual obligations,” he said.
AMA is a statutory body established under an Act of Parliament with a broad mandate to regulate the production, buying and processing of agricultural productions in Zimbabwe.
Mutenha said seed cotton contracts were volume-based as enshrined in Statutory Instrument 63 of 2011.
“The farmer can then sell his free cotton to the company offering the highest price. Buyers are licensed to buy seed cotton only in areas they financed and from designated common buying points,” he said.
He said seed cotton prices that buyers were currently paying ranged between US38 cents and US48 cents per kilogram.
Last year the government intervened and fixed the producer price of cotton at US$1.50 per kg although ginners refused to honour it and paid US35 cents per kg.
Some cotton producers countrywide have started moving to other cash crops, with many particularly in Mashonaland West, switching to soya beans and maize following a disastrous 2012 marketing season.
Mr Mutenha said this year’s total cotton sales were likely to drop compared to last year.
“Some farmers because of poor prices offered last year have abandoned cotton production and obviously we are unlikely to reach the 349 000 metric tonnes delivered last year,” he said adding that the mid season drought experienced between January and February this year also contributed to low yields.
He urged ginners to continue offering prices in tandem with trends on the international market.
“We encourage cotton buyers to offer even higher prices as the cotton price is improving on the international market and therefore it must cascade down to the farmers to enable them to go back to the fields in the coming season,” he said
At least 14 companies registered to buy cotton seed in the 2012/13 selling season scheduled to end in two months time.
Cotton is largely grown in the drier parts of the country such as Muzarabani in Mashonaland Central province, Chipinge in Manicaland province and Chiredzi in Masvingo province. The crop is a source of livelihood for over 250 000 households. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter