Peru's cotton output likely to dip this year

17 Jul '12

2 min read

Peru is likely to experience a dip in its cotton output for the current season. The crop production is expected to dip by about 12 percent from 2011’s 46,941 tons to 38,500 tons this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

After achieving a record cotton production of 89,000 tons in 2006, the crop output plunged to an all time low of 25,590 tons in 2010, but then again in 2011 it recovered significantly.

Lack of genetic improvements in the crop over the past four decades is the main reason behind drop in the output, as this has reduced crop efficiency, the report said.

Further, inefficiency of the cotton cultivators is also due to extremely small size of fields, as about 90 percent of the farmers undertake cultivation on less than five hectares of land.

Peruvian cotton growers also lack the capacity to invest adequately in seeds and mechanization as they have limited credit accessibility. This is because most of them do not possess land titles or other viable collateral guarantee to obtain a credit.

Factors like provision of subsidies in other cotton producing countries, dumping of yarn and textile from India and China in Peruvian market and better remunerative ability of other crops, are also holding back Peru’s cotton production. The crop productivity also gets impacted by long growing season and pests.

In an effort to boost production, the Peruvian Government extended credit lines and technical assistance to the farmers, and even tried to organize them by forming associations, however, its efforts failed with traditional cotton growers.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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