Nairobi — Cotton farmers got a major boost on Wednesday, when the price at which they sell their produce was more than doubled after an agreement between various players in the sector.

A meeting that included farmers' representatives and ginnery owners held at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi, fixed the minimum farm gate prices for cotton at Sh65 from Sh32 set last year.

The chairman of the industry regulator, Cotton Development Authority Dennis Ochwada, said the price had considered the international market situation, the local cost of production, the expected increase in demand and reduced supply to fix the prices.

"We agreed to share the cake with the farmer getting Sh65 per kilo of cotton seed. We took the view of the growing demand in the international market and declining supply in some countries and restrictions (on exports) in others," Mr Ochwada said.

Some countries like Pakistan and India have banned exports of their cotton, while production in China has declined by over 70 per cent.

The meeting that was, however boycotted by the spinners, observed that prices were likely to shoot to over Sh80 per kilo this year, with low production against a surge in demand.

Cotton farmers in Western and Nyanza last year earned as much as Sh65 and those in Central, Coast and Eastern earned an average of Sh45 due to market forces.

Last month, some ginneries complained that they were facing severe shortage of cotton and could be forced to scale down on production.

The authority's chief executive officer, Mr Micah Powon, said data for cotton production in the country last year was being compiled but disagreed that ginneries were faced with shortage of raw materials.

The government has been instituting reforms to increase cotton production in the country and formed cotton authority to regulate and promote growth.