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Farai Rugeje Agriculture Reporter
Cotton farmers say the delay in the release of producer prices by Government is a major setback in their preparations for the next farming season. Cotton Producers and Marketers Association representative Morris Mukwe said continuous delays in unveiling prices will 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.

“Most of the crop is now ready but is still in the field and may be at high risk with rains set to continue and might reduce the quality of the crop,” Mukwe said.

Last year’s producer price was pegged at US35 cents per kilogramme and this year, farmers are calling for the producer price to start at US$1 per kg considering the increase in production costs they incurred.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Wonder Chabikwa said many farmers were discouraged from growing cotton because of the low prices that buyers offered over the 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, fertilisers and adequate funds so as to increase cotton production in the country.

“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 revealed that 300 000 hectares of cotton were planted this season with expected average yield of 700 kgs per hectare.