adminFarai Rugeje Agriculture Reporter
Cotton farmers are appealing to Government to urgently release the producer price so they can make informed preparations for next season. Cotton Producers and Marketers Association representative Mr Morris Mukwe told The Herald on Monday that delays in unveiling prices would promote side-marketing since farmers desperately need to sell their crop to pay workers and purchase inputs.
“The challenge in the delay of cotton producer prices is that farmers have nowhere to store their crop because silos are full of food crops that have been harvested.
“Much of the crop is now ready but is still in the field and may be at high risk with rains set to continue and this could reduce the quality of the crop,” Mukwe said.
Last year’s producer price was pegged at US35 cents per kilogramme but this year farmers expect the producer price to start at US$1, considering the increase in production costs.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Wonder Chabikwa said many farmers were discouraged from growing cotton because of the low prices that buyers offered over the past years.
“This has forced most farmers to switch to tobacco where they are still getting less money than expected due the poor quality of their tobacco.
“Farmers do not have enough knowledge and experience on growing tobacco and, therefore, should be motivated to return to cotton,” he said.
Goromonzi Farmer George Tambwari said Government should supply them with inputs such as chemicals, fertlisers and adequate funds to increase cotton production.
“Farmers could boost yields if they used adequate fertilisers. We urge the Government to supply sufficient inputs to farmers on time. Inputs take time to reach farmers at the end yielding poor results,” he said.
Cotton council says 300 000 hectares of cotton were planted this season with expected average yield of 700 kilogrammes per hectare.
Online Reporter