Ivory Coast cotton output estimates revised upwards

15 Jul '11

2 min read

Backed by high farm gate prices, favourable weather and enhanced security, Ivory Coast Ginners' Association has said that overall cotton production for current 2011-12 fiscal is expected to be 220,000 tons, rising by over 25 percent above last year's output.

Earlier in May this year, the Association had projected the country's overall cotton output to rise from last year's 175,000 tons to 216,000 tons this year. At the end of June, the Association once again took stock of the situation and found that cotton cultivation has been done on 207,000 hectares of land.

Although delayed, monsoon has arrived in majority of the regions in the country, and several cultivators are likely to carry on sowing till mid-July. Hence, it is being expected that the cotton output would be above 220,000 tons, the highest output recorded since past eight years.

Ivory Coast was one of the West African region's leading exporters of cotton, prior to the 2002-03 civil war, and harvested around 400,000 tons of cotton per annum. However, the production has decreased by half since then.

High farm gate price fixed at 265 CFA francs per kg at the beginning of June this year, as against last year's 210 francs, has made a number of farmers to take up cotton cultivation this year. The farm gate price for cotton fixed by Ivory Coast is the highest in West Africa.

Other factors that are seen to help the sector include the financial assistance extended by the European Union to around 14,480 farmers to procure animal-drawn ploughs, and enhanced security after the cessation of the four-months of armed row spurred after the Presidential polls on November 28, 2010.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India