Dar Es Salaam — Cotton farming - an undertaking that many Tanzanians could have snubbed had it not been probably the passion and traditional bondage of the crop - is showing prospects of becoming one of the country's highly paying economic ventures.
At productivity of 300 kilogrammes per acre and prices ranging between 300/- and 500/- per kilogramme, Tanzanian cotton farmers earned between 90,000/- and 150,000/- per acre, annually, certainly a huge loss compared to production costs. But, thanks to either tradition, ignorance or a combination of both, farmers kept on growing the crop, notwithstanding the earning, which was too peanut to cover even the direct production costs - labour and inputs.
"I myself grow cotton but if I was to properly consider all costs - including labour and time spent, I would hardly continue growing the crop," says George Mpanduji, Secretary General of Tanzania Cotton Growers Association (TACOGA). He told the 'Business Standard' in an interview in Mwanza recently that majority farmers perceived cotton farming as profitable due to improper costing, with only inputs - seeds and pesticides - taken as costs, while excluding family labour and time.
Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB), under an ambitious Cotton and Textile Development Programme, has marshalled resources and mobilised stakeholders towards a common cause - taping the full potential of cotton, which remains the country's largest forex earner after coffee, raking in over 100 million US dollars (about 150bn/-) in export revenue and employing some 500,000 rural households, mainly in the Lake Zone - Mwanza, Shinyanga, Mara and Kagera regions.
Mwanza-based Ukiriguru Agricultural Research Institute, one of the key stakeholders engaged in the cash crop's development programme, has embarked on extensive researches of high quality cotton seed, with the views of addressing the sub-sector's chronic problems - poor quality, low productivity and improper agronomic practices that have denied Tanzanians the full benefits of the 'white gold.'
"The researches focus on producing high quality cotton seeds that give high yield, high quality lint and high ginning percentage as well as resistance to drought and diseases," charges Ms Ottavina Ramadhan, the institute's lead researcher. The researches have already produced UK91, the high quality cotton seeds currently on wide use in the Western Cotton Growing Area.
The variety has proved its ability to produce high quality lint, high yield (between 1,000 - 1,800 kilogramme per hectre) and 39.6 ginning percentage. However, the National Seed Release Committee approved two higher quality varieties in December 2008 - UK08 and UKM08 - to replace UK91.
"The two varieties have better qualities than those obtained in UK91...UK08 and UKM08 will replace UK91 once they are massively produced and widely distributed to all cotton producers in the zone," says Ms Ramadhan, hinting that UKM08 that has Malian quality inputs yields between 1,000 and 1,200 kilogrammes per acre, has 42.3 ginning percentage and is resistant to pesticides and diseases.
UK08, a purely Tanzanian variety, yields between 800 and 1,000 kilogrammes per acre, has 40.2 ginning percentage and is resistant to diseases and pesticides. The researcher could not state for certain the time it will take to avail the new seed varieties to farmers, saying "It will all depend on wether conditions as well as control and distribution arrangement." The institute deals with seed development at the breeder, pre-basic and basic levels, before handing over the role of seed multiplication and distribution to the sub-sector's regulatory board.
Before the cotton sector reforms started gradually in 1990, culminating into industry de-regulation to allow competition in cotton marketing and ginning in 1994, the board used to multiply certified cotton seeds in its Kisuke, Buharahara, Bugwema and Misasi farms.
But, under the reforms, TCB remained with the regulatory role, giving the other roles to private players. Quality of cotton whose multiplication was left to individual cotton growers suffered a big blow due to lack of control.
As a result, poor cotton seeds were given to farmers. Poor seeds for planting produced low yield and poor quality cotton, with meagre returns to producers. And, cotton dirtying with water, sand, stones and other impurities were some of the short-lived attempts by farmers to increase weight and ultimately income. "The dirty tricks ended up crippling cotton as the country's major cash crop.
And instead of earning price premiums, Tanzania started losing millions in US dollars in terms of poor quality of cotton supplied in the world market," regrets Marco Mtunga, TCB Acting Director General. Mr Mtunga says quality cotton starts right from seed production and multiplication. The board has, therefore, contracted Quton Tanzania limited for a seven-year agreement to develop a certified seed multiplication scheme of local cotton varieties.
The firm expects to transform the Zimbabwean model on cotton planting seed multiplication and processing to realise the full potential of Tanzania as a cotton growing country. Industry stakeholders are convinced that with effective seed multiplication scheme and proper agronomic practices, Tanzania will produce cotton of high quantity and quality, earn price premiums and generate sufficient income for producers.
