Cotton marketing season opens May 9—Council

The Cotton Council of Malawi says the 2024 Cotton Marketing Season is expected to open on May 9, with the  minimum price set at K900 per kilogramme (kg).

The council’s spokesperson Prisca Jamali confirmed the development, saying Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale is expected to launch the season in Salima.

“The preparations have been successful and all stakeholders are ready for the season and we expect a fine season ahead,” she said.

Cotton Farmers Association of Malawi chairperson Labson Zidana, in an interview on Friday, said farmers are ready for the season.

He said the quality of the crop is good and should attract good prices.

“With months of hard work on the fields, time has come for farmers to be compensated and the only way of compensating them is for buyers to offer good prices,” said Zidana.

He decried the minimum farm-gate price, saying it is too low considering the cost of production, inflation and the impact of the 44 percent kwacha devaluation effected in November last year.

Agriculture expert Duncan Warren, who is also a cotton farmer, sympathised with the farmers, saying more needs to be done to make the cotton industry attractive.

“It is important to offer better prices to farmers because currently those growing cotton incur huge costs mainly because of skyrocketing costs of hybrid seeds,” he said.

This year, Malawi is expected to produce about 10 000 metric tonnes of cotton just like last year.

Last year, prices rose by 24 percent to K720 per kg from the set minimum of K580 per kg.