By Brian Latham

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe has doubled the producer price for cotton, the state-controlled Herald reported, citing Jabulani Gwaringa, an economist with the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union.

Farmers will receive 30 U.S. cents a kilogram (2.2 pounds) for the lowest-grades of cotton, up from 15 cents a kilogram last year, the Harare-based Herald said on its Web site.

Zimbabwe’s cotton is grown mainly by small-scale farmers.