Cabo Delgado provincial governor Lazaro Mathe told AIM that "this production is a landmark in the province. For the first time Cabo Delgado production of raw cotton has overtaken that of all other provinces".
He said that the Plexus-Mocambique company, that promoted cotton production in the province, invested about eight million US dollars in seeds and other inputs, which it provided on credit to the peasant growers. It was this that guaranteed a good agricultural season.
In Cabo Delgado, cotton is produced mainly in the districts of Balama and Montepuez, and the main market is Britain.
Mozambique has been recording strong growth in cotton production, and experts say that this is thanks to a series of activities undertaken by the government's Mozambique Cotton Institute (IAM), particularly the renewal of cotton seeds.
Throughout the country, the concessionary companies had been using the same seed varieties as were used for growing cotton in the colonial epoch. One cotton expert told AIM that the programme to replace these seed varieties "has come very late".
In his view, Mozambique "shouldn't simply sit back and wait for the western countries to stop subsidising their cotton production".
"What Mozambique should do is to seek ways to minimise the effect of the protectionist policies in the rich countries, and I think the programme that is now starting is a step in that direction", he said.
AIM's source warned that the failure to implement rules on cotton cutivation led to poorer quality in the final prodict.
There is currently no control over the movement and the origin of the raw cotton that reaches the ginning mills. This could lead to a mixture of varieties and the spread of plant diseases.
As a result, the cotton fibre was not homogenous in quality, and so lost value. "Mozambique must regain the reputation of providing good quality cotton, with low levels of contamination, good colour and resistence, and, most of all, good consistency in the volume and quality produced", said the source.
The productivity of cotton farming is directly related with the use of better seed varieties, adapted to the country's various ecological conditions, and to the use of insecticides.
These have a clearly positive effect on cotton production and quality.
But because of the poor purchasing power of peasant families, traders are not prepared to grant inputs on credit, and this task falls to the cotton companies, that recover the money after marketing the cotton.
Alongside seed renewal, IAM is also working to modernise its laboratories. What is intended is that each bale of cotton fibre should carry an indication of the length of the fibre, its thickness, its resistance and all other parameters, so that the cotton companies will be able to negotiate a better price on the world market.
The IAM wants Mozambican cotton to have its own brand name, describing a uniform, classified product, so that Mozambique can regain its reputation on the international cotton market.
The cotton companies believe that Mozambique can ensure a better price for its cotton, and can compete with other cotton producing countries.
Currently, the cotton industry spends 10 million US dollars on inputs to produce cotton exports worth 30 million dollars.
SOURCE: AIM
