Funny Hudzurema in Gokwe
Government has launched a massive awareness campaign countrywide on cotton stalk destruction. The move is aimed at restoring cotton quality and increase yields which have declined over the years. The campaign is being carried out in seven cotton growing provinces.

The awareness campaign is being conducted by the Research Services Department under the ministry. The department is educating farmers on effects of continuous growing of cotton without destroying the stalks the ministry is targeting seven cotton traditionally growing areas. Cotton production has declined in Zimbabwe due to lack of inputs and lack of awareness on how to grow and control diseases affecting the plant.

In a speech read on his behalf during the awareness campaign in Gokwe recently, Agriculture Research Services Department Director Dr Cames Mguni called on farmers to follow cotton rules and laws to maintain the quality and increase yields to compete on the world market. “Cotton has remained as a critical crop which farmers must adhere to its policies to increase yields and maintain the standard and this can be achieved through use of researched information by farmers.

“Farmers must destroy cotton plants after every harvest to reduce the accumulation of pests and diseases which are affecting the crop and this also reduces costs on the growing of the crop,” he said. Zimbabwe was the best quality cotton producer in the world but the standards are now declining due to lack of information on how to grow the crop.

“Cotton production accounts for more than 75 percent of household income for cotton farmers. “The secret of our achievements lay in the continues emphasis on the careful use of pesticides in combination with appropriate cultural practices which kept our average number of spays below those recorded in other countries with comparable yields,” he said.

The awareness campaign is running under the theme “Reclaiming the cotton productivity and quality”. The programme will be conducted in Gokwe, Sanyati, Mwenezi, Cheche and Rushinga aiming to enlighten cotton growers. “I would like to implore everyone to join hands and assume the responsibility of reclaiming the cotton productivity and quality in Zimbabwe,” Dr Mguni said.

He encouraged cotton growers to grow the crop straight from seeds to guarantee high productivity and quality of cotton. Farmers have expressed the issue high prices of inputs and low prices of cotton on the market are causing farmers to continue growing the plant without destroying the stalks of last season.

Currently cotton is being bought at a flat fee of $0,30 per kg and bales are fetching a weight 0f 100kg below as compared to 300 kg during the last decades. “Government must gazette a minimum price of cotton to allow farmers to continue the growing of cotton in the country “Lack of competition among the cotton buyers have affected the prices of cotton in the country since cotton buyers are now buying cotton under one roof called the G7,” said the farmers.

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