Mali sets 2014-15 cotton production target at 600,000 tons

19 Jul '14

2 min read

Mali, a landlocked country in Western Africa, has set cotton production target of 600,000 tons for 2014-15, much higher than the 440,000 tons produced in the last season.

Cotton sowing is already complete on 570,300 hectares or 97 percent of the planned area for cotton production in 2014-15, according to the data from the Malian Company for the Development of Textiles (CMDT), reports Ecofin Agency.

To boost the development of the country’s agricultural, including cotton, sector, the President of Mali has allocated 15 percent of the national budget for investment in the sector. Of this, an amount of approximately US$ 80 million would be used for providing subsidy on fertilizers.

Mali is currently the second-largest producer of cotton in Africa, next only to Burkina Faso, which produces over 500,000 tons of cotton annually. About 3.5 million farmers are engaged in the production of cotton, which is the second-largest export product for Mali after gold.

At present, cotton growing in Mali is also being impacted by poor soil. In its effort to address the problem, the Government of Mali is currently developing a soil fertility map and is also correcting soil acidification, which needs large investment.

Another challenge being faced by the Malian cotton sector is value-addition. At present, only 1-2 percent of the cotton grown in the country is processed locally, and the remaining gets exported.

The Malian Government created CMDT in 1974 to oversee the production and marketing of Mali’s cotton. It is based in Bamako and has several production sites throughout the country, in particular at Koutiala and Fana.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India