BAMAKO, May 9 (Reuters) -Mali expects to produce 780,000 tonnes of cotton for the current 2023/24 season, the ministry of agriculture said, recovering from a lower forecast than usual for 2022/23 due to bad weather and pests.

The West African country produced 389,700 tonnes of cotton in 2022 compared to 777,120 tonnes the previous year, a ministry report sent to Reuters on Tuesday showed.

"This drop was due to the abandonment of around 150,000 hectares by producers due to pullulating jassides," the documents said, referring to a parasite that heavily impacted cotton crops across the region last year.

The cotton season runs from April to April.

Output is expected to reach 860,000 tonnes for the 2024 season and 910,000 in 2025/26, the ministry said.

Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo
Editing by Sofia Christensen, Kirsten Donovan