The seed cotton campaign recently began in Mozambique with the Mozambican Cotton Institute setting a production target of 100,000 tons, compared to 184,000 tons in the previous campaign according to Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias.

Norberto Mahalambe, the director of the Cotton Institute, said that the expected drop in production, of 46 percent, was not a concern, as it exceeded long term projections, set at 92,000 tons of seed cotton.

“We have gone from production of 41,000 tons, in 2010, to 65,000 the year after and in 2012 the total was 184,000 and now we are back at 100,000, so the projection remain higher than the long term target,“ Mahalambe noted.

In 2012 several factors, particularly the weather, led to a yield of around 900 kilos per hectare, which is slightly above average of the region, as well as a high number of producers, around 298,000 families, compared to 250,000 families for the current campaign.

“The challenge that we have is to maintain this level of productivity, which means continuing to supply improved, certified and treated seeds and perfecting technical assistance provided to producers,” said Mahalambe.

The amount of cotton produced in the last campaign caught both farmers and cotton companies by surprise and they were unable to buy and transport all the cotton within the required period. The director of the Cotton Institute gave assurances that these problems would not happen again this year. (macauhub)