By JAMES KUNDA –
THE 2014-2015 cotton marketing season has commenced with buyers projected to procure 130,000 tonnes of cotton compared to the 95,000 tonnes of the crop procured last year.
Zambia Cotton Ginners Association (ZCGA) executive secretary Bourne Chooka said in a statement yesterday that participating ginning companies had distributed woolpacks to facilitate the picking of cotton by farmers.
Mr Chooka said picking bags had all been distributed to farmers with weighing equipment as sized in readiness for the season.
“We are ready and looking forward to a successful marketing season expecting to buy about 130,000 tonnes of cotton compared to the previous season, when only 95,000 tonnes was purchased,” he said.
Mr Chooka attributed the increase in cotton production this year to the high number of participating farmers and hectarage planted.
“Farmers are being attracted every year to participate in cotton production because of the new approaches being undertaken by most ginners.
Farmers in cotton producing areas are buying into the cotton out grower schemes being run by ginners in the country,” he said.
Mr Chooka assured of a lucrative trading environment in the marketing season for farmers to get a fair return.
“Cotton prices are heavily influenced by prevailing international cotton lint prices on the world market but regardless of the international lint prices, cotton continues to be a profitable crop to farmers and earns the country the invaluable foreign currency through lint exports,” said Mr Chooka.