Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera, Specialist Writer – Agribusiness
SEED cotton intake has fallen by 24 percent to 16 million tonnes this year compared to 21 million tonnes in 2025, with the 2026 marketing season ending on July 31.
Farmers have so far earned US$3.8 million and ZiG43.1 million, with others lamenting non-payment of all their money at the point of sale.
Officially launching the 2026 marketing season, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) said the season would run from May 18 to July 31, with buying confined to AMA-designated common buying points (CBPs).
AMA also revealed that no bale movement would be allowed from CBPs unless fully paid for at the minimum cotton grade D price of US$0,35 per kilogramme, with farmers getting 70 percent of their payments in US dollars and the balance in ZiG.
Contractors are also mandated to pay a grade-based price differential from a grade A price of US$0,43 per kg, grade B – US$0,41 per kg and grade C of US$0,38.
According to AMA’s weekly report dated July 11, seed cotton intake dropped by 27 percent from 21,21 million kg in July 10 last year to 15 501 million kg during the same period this year.
Zimbabwe’s largest contractor, Cottco, has bought 53 percent of the crop (8 160 million 661kg) sold thus far, followed by Alliance Ginneries with 16 percent (2 536 million kg) and Agri Value Chain (AVC) at 14 percent (2 190 million kg)
Southern Cotton is in fourth after purchasing 11 percent (1 692 million kg), with Cangrow in fifth position at five percent of purchases (794 350kg), while Zimbabwe Cotton Council (ZCC) bought the least, one percent (136 395kg).
Cotton Producers and Marketers Association (CPMA) chairman, Mr Stewart Mubonderi, yesterday bemoaned the delay in paying farmers their full amounts by Cottco, especially in areas such as Gokwe, Banket, Raffingora,
Hurungwe and Mutoko, where it faces little competition.
Mr Mubonderi also said that Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), Cottco’s parent company, had not yet honoured its promise last year to clear Cottco Holdings’ legacy debts of around US$5 million within six months.
Efforts to get Mutapa’s chief executive officer, Dr John Mangudya, to comment on the matter were fruitless, as his mobile phone was unreachable.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) cotton commodity chairman, Mr Clemency Gondo, described the grade A producer price of US$0,42 per kg as too low in real economic terms to enable farmers to break even.
“Cost of production shot up as a result of geopolitical disturbances in Eastern and Western Europe. Government needs to subsidise cotton farmers and merchants must pay grade price differentials in US dollars, as well as the local currency component,” he said.
AMA, Government departments, contractors and farmer unions in most cotton-producing regions of the country conducted a validation exercise from April 13 to 17 this year and concluded that 38 500 tonnes of the white gold would be produced this year, representing a 33 percent increase from last year’s 29 000 tonnes.
The 2025/26 Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment report 2 (CLAFA 2) concluded that cotton production had increased by 26 percent, driven by area expansion to 154 938 hectares in the 2025/26 season from 122 493 in the 2024/25 season.
