By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - West African cotton growers forecast a 20 percent increase in output to 2,160,000 tonnes for the 2013/14 season from 1,797,500 tonnes in 2012/13, data collected from cotton producers and compiled by Reuters showed on Thursday.

Sowing has started with first rains in all the six cotton producing countries.

The region once represented about 15 percent of the world's cotton exports, analysts say, but was hit hard by a market crash in the early 2000s, which West African states blamed on subsidies in competing growers such as the United States.

The crash prompted many farmers, who saw little potential for profit, to switch to other crops.

The sector is now experiencing a renaissance as higher world prices draw farmers back into the fields.

"Cotton growing is arousing a lot of interest," said Dehou Dakouo, director of production for Burkina Faso's Sofitex. "Sowing has been underway since May 20 and producers are sticking to their forecasts despite a slight fall in the purchasing price for seed cotton."

He said seed cotton prices had slipped to 235 CFA francs per kg from 245 CFA francs last season.

In Mali, Ousmane Cisse, technical advisor at the state-owned cotton production and marketing company (CMDT), said a price of 250 CFA francs per kg, versus 255 CFA francs last season, remained attractive.

Production in Mali has more than doubled from around 200,000 tonnes in 2008/09 to around 450,000 tonnes in the 2012/13 season, Cisse said.

He said the increase in output was largely due to an increased area dedicated to cotton farming, improved state support, and better farming techniques.