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Word from the Market with Tapiwa Nyasha Mutonda
WHILE launching the 2023 cotton marketing season in Mahuwe, Mashonaland Central province, last month, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka bemoaned the impact of poor-quality seed cotton on prices.
He, however, urged farmers to carry out pre-delivery grading so that their crop can fetch good prices on the market. Over the years, cotton produced in Zimbabwe has been well-known for being among the least contaminated in global markets. Zimbabwe has always had a good grading system, whereby seed cotton, at the point of purchase, would be categorised into four basic grades — A to D.
Contamination was a major criterion used to determine grades during the buying process. This high-quality standard was maintained during the “duopoly” years of 1995 to 2001, but quality deteriorated since 2002, as cotton grading had disappeared at the point of purchase. Varying grades were purchased and ginned together, instead of sorting them separately.
Seed cotton quality
The quality of seed cotton has over the years been going down because of a number of factors, which include the following:
Poor rainfall patterns, which lead to discolouration of fibres
Leaf trash
Weak or immature fibres
Insect stains due to lack of adequate application of chemicals
Lack of grade-differential payments demotivated farmers to pre-grade their seed cotton
During the 2022 marketing season, only 2 percent of seed cotton was in grade A, followed by 4 percent in grade B, while the bulk of the seed cotton was in lower grades.
These less impressive grades call for greater and more concerted efforts by all stakeholders in ensuring that the different categories are paid accordingly and that farmers are trained in cotton grading, among other measures, so that more attention is paid to reduce the contamination of seed cotton.
Corrective action
In trying to correct this downward trend in cotton quality, the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) has in recent years reintroduced proper cotton grading. It has also pushed for grade differential payments.
In 2013, it began the establishment of national cotton standards through the refurbishment of grading boxes, a process whereby cotton grades are carefully displayed in sets of boxes, showing the maximum acceptable downgrading factors in each box.
Furthermore, in line with Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2009, as amended by SI 63 of 2011 and SI118 of 2022, this year, all cotton merchants are compelled to make grade differential payments before the end of November.
Apart from payment by grades, AMA, through its field officers and clerks, will this season ensure that grades are displayed at every common buying point as feedback to farmers. This is meant to make them aware of the grades awarded to them.
Lastly, AMA is on a national drive to educate growers on these issues through farmer field schools and the establishment of demonstration plots in all cotton-growing areas.
Cotton quality factors
The quality of cotton fibre depends on many factors, including variety, weather conditions, cultural practices, harvesting and storage practices, moisture and trash content, ginning processes, post-packing storage and general handling practices.
Certain quality characteristics are highly influenced by genetics, while others are determined by environmental conditions, cultural practices or harvesting and ginning practices.
Other common downgrading factors include colour background, insect stain, soil stain, weak immature fibres and leaf trash.
Seed cotton can be rejected for various reasons during grading.
It is rejected when contaminants are identified during grading. These are: polypropylene; oil, grease or fuel contamination; high moisture content, above 12,5 percent; burnt or scorched cotton; and sticks or stones inside a seed cotton pack.
Fibre quality is highest the day a mature cotton ball opens.
Weathering, mechanical harvesting, handling and ginning can diminish the natural quality of cotton.
As for Zimbabwean cotton, it is hand-picked, hence the natural quality should be harnessed from the field and maintained.
What is cotton grading?
It is the visual interpretation or appraisal of seed cotton to identify similarities in quality through comparison with physical and descriptive standards depicted in national cotton standard grading boxes, in line with SI 142 of 2009.
Manual grading is based on appearance and feel, and is accomplished mainly through the human senses of sight and touch.
In conclusion, quality improvement requires concerted efforts and a comprehensive strategy involving regulatory authorities, researchers, producers, ginners and transporters. The fibre properties can be improved through research and better production, handling and marketing practices. Awarding of grade differential prices will go a long way in motivating farmers to exercise pre-grading at the homestead level, leading to improved cotton grades.
Tapiwa Nyasha Mutonda is AMA agricultural quality inspector. Word from the Market is a column produced by AMA to promote market-driven production. Feedback: [email protected] or WhatsApp+263781706212.
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