Online Reporter
Patience Maturure, Harare Bureau
THE Cotton Producers and Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (CPMAZ) has declared that there will be no “free cotton” this season, amid reports that no farmers registered with the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) to produce self-financed cotton.
In a statement, CPMAZ vice chairperson Mr Ernest Samson Chigaba stressed that “no cotton was free cotton,” as defined in the AMA Act in respect of the current farming discourse.
“The farmer must be self-financed, registered with AMA by December 31 every year and must provide proof of self-financing beyond reasonable doubt in that regard.
“Let me warn all those self-claimed free cotton proponents or advocates, who are bogus agents masquerading as farmers that their actions are wayward and perpetuate cotton side marketing and shall face the full wrath of the law,” said Mr Chigaba.
He added that research had revealed that no farmer had been registered as such self-financing, which makes the free cotton claim a nullity.
Mr Chigaba explained that farmers were expecting high yields this season, courtesy of the Presidential Inputs Scheme with nearly 35 000 cotton farmers contracted to grow cotton last year and planting 250 000 hectares.
“Let me categorically state on behalf of all bona fide members of the CPMAZ that the law is very clear, cotton produced under the Presidential Inputs Scheme is under Cottco’s domain and Cabinet resolutions are alive to that.
“Farmers received free cotton inputs under the scheme, as part of efforts to increase the country’s cotton production and revive the cotton industry,” he said.
Mr Chigaba emphasised that the AMA Act is self-defining in respect of a free cotton farmer and for clarification purposes, all that is supported or claimed as “free” originates whether by design or default from the life-changing Presidential Cotton Inputs Scheme currently trending.
“Such dissident-like behaviour is likely to bring discord into the industry and is tantamount to putting Vision 2030 into disarray and disharmony.
“As CPMAZ, we are against the practice of cotton side marketing and therefore dismiss this ‘free cotton farmer narrative as misleading.”
Meanwhile, cotton farmers have reportedly confirmed that they are geared for the marketing season after which they will start preparing for the next season.
They are expecting some improvement in yields and higher earnings.
Cotton is considered a strategic crop that is interwoven into both the rural and national economies since it is a cash crop for farmers, particularly those in drought-prone areas.
Mr Chigaba added that cotton provides lint for downstream textile industries and generates export earnings while the cotton seed is used to extract edible oils for human consumption with the residue used in animal feed.
In 2015, the Government launched the free cotton inputs scheme to resuscitate the cotton sector after production had declined to 28 000 tonnes, the lowest output in almost two decades.
