...Farmers genrally welcome price hikeCotton prices have been increased from the paltry US$0,30 per kilogramme to US$1, a more than 200 percent hike for the cash-strapped farmers who had regularly complained to the minister.
In the region, cotton farmers are paid between US$0,80 and US$0,90 which makes local cotton farmers the best paid.
“In Malawi, for example, cotton farmers are currently getting US$0,80 while in South Africa they get US$0,90 per kilogramme,” an official from the Cotton Marketing Board (CMB) said in an exclusive interview.
Farmers interviewed said they welcomed the price hike which would go a long way in solving their production costs which were escalating annually.
“We pay a lot of money for such items as fertiliser and inputs,” a communal farmer said in an interview.
“So, this US$1 will go a long way in trying to solve our cash problems. The money is very welcome but it has come a bit late.”
The official from the cotton organisation said now that the price had been increased he hoped production would go up from the current 20 percent especially from communal farmers.
While it is very expensive to produce cotton prices are generally low even on the international arena where the majority of the cotton produced is sold in Liverpool in the United Kingdom (UK).
Zimbabwe produces among the best quality cotton lint in the world and such designer label shirts including Van Heusein being made in the country but sent to the UK for labelling.
The majority of the cotton is sold by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe Limited (Cottco) and Quton (Private) Limited, a private player in the industry.
Most of Zimbabwe’s cotton is hand-picked as opposed to mechanisation done internationally.
“This makes the quality of our cotton to be very high and attractive,” the official pointed out.
Post published in: Economy