COTONOU Oct 21 (Reuters) - Cotton production in Benin is expected to reach 350,000 tonnes in the upcoming 2016/17 season, up 35 percent from last season due to an increase in land planted, the professional cotton association said in a statement on Friday.

This year 418,000 hectares have been sown, up from 405,000 last year, the statement said. Last season's crop of 260,000 tonnes was unusually small because farmers lacked pesticides and fertilizer.

The new forecast is still slightly below production in 2014/15, when 394,000 tonnes were produced.

The new cotton marketing season will open on Nov. 3. Cotton is a major export for the tiny West African nation, which this year handed back control of the sector to the professional cotton association after the government seized it in 2012.

(Reporting by Allegresse Sasse; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)