BAMAKO Nov 9 (Reuters) - Mali reduced its 2010/11 cotton forecast further on Tuesday to 278,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes, citing adverse weather.

The West African country had cut the projection from 360,000 tonnes in September, blaming poor rains.

"We expected rains in May and June but they didn't come. Then they were exceptionally abundant in August and September, causing floods and the destruction of land," government statistician Ousmane Traore told Reuters.

Along with gold and livestock, cotton makes up the bulk of Mali's export earnings. Higher gold exports have been offsetting the decline in recent years in the value of its cotton exports, which amounted to around 230,000 tonnes last season.