Price slump won’t affect many – AMA

already sold their produce at good prices.
AMA director production and operations, Mr Maxwell Chikanda said this season’s crop was harvested early and marketing also started early when prices were still good.
Most farmers sold their cotton for US$0,85 per kg.
Mr Chikanda said prices have since dro-pped to as low as US$0,40 per kg for D grade while A grade is going for US$0,55 per kg.
“Selling of the bulk of the crop started as early as May and I would like to believe that 95 percent of it was sold at viable prices.”
I do not think there was any farmer who held onto his produce at that time.
“In fact, the ginners are the most likely to feel the pinch since the slump in prices started from the international scene where they sell the lint after buying from farmers,” he said.
Mr Chikanda said cotton sold towards the end of the marketing season is usually the best grades whose marketing in this case had unfortunately coincided with the drop in prices.
Farmers, ginners and organisations recently agreed to adjust minimum producer prices of seed cotton in line with trends on the international markets.
This left grade A cotton fetching a price of US$0,55 per kg, B grade going for US$0,50 per kg while C grade is fetching US$0,45 per kg with grade D going for US$0,40 per kg.
The prices were effected starting July 25, 2011. Stakeholders who agreed on the new price included representatives from the Zimbabwe National Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union, Zimbabwe Farmers Union and Cotton Ginners Association.
There were also some individual farmers who were involved though in most cases they do not have any influence in the final decisions.
The stakeholders argued that the continued decline in international lint prices as quoted by the Cotlook ‘A’ Index from 237 c/1b at the end of March 2011 to 114c/1b as at August 3, 2011 had necessitated the further price review.
Farmers, however, argue that most of the decisions are just imposed on them without their input.
“We are not happy with this top to bottom approach they use in which they just make their decisions and impose them on us. We do not even know the farmers unions purporting to be representing our interests.
“We do not even belong to any of the unions,” Mirriam Matombe of Avlin Farm in Bindura said yesterday.
She said she had sold her cotton at the price of US$0,85 per kg at the start of the marketing season and was therefore not worried by the new changes.
“The majority of farmers in this area have already sold their cotton so this unfortunate development will not affect them. But we are not happy with being reduced to mere price takers and not be part of the decision making process,” she said.