Cotton production in Uganda more than doubled in the 2010-11 season and is expected to grow further in the next four years because of wider use of fertilizers and pesticides, the Cotton Development Organization said.

Production for the season increased to 147,000 185-kilogram (410-pound) bales from 70,300 bales a year earlier, the Kampala- based state-run agency said in a statement published today in New Vision newspaper. The country harvests the crop from October to April, according to the agency.

Export earnings from the crop rose to $106 million from $20.7 million in 2009-10, the agency said.