Cotton farming in Zimbabwe

Cotton field. Farmer.co.zw

Growing conditions and growing area

• Zimbabwe is the largest producer of the crop in Africa south of the Sahara.
• A bush crop grown in summer using dry land farming.
• Rainfall at least 600 mm in the growing season.
• Temperature wide tolerance but must exceed 21°C at ripening. Soils should be deep clayey soils which are the best although black earths would do.
• Sowing is done at start of rain season.
• Bush plants grow and weeding is done by hand.
• Spraying against boll weevils must occur.
• Picking occurs when balls ripen.
• 70% of the lint is exported. 49% comes from communal farmers.
• After harvesting, the plants are burnt to kill all pests.

Processing and marketing

• After picking the cotton is packed in bales.
• The bales are collected by lorries to depots established by the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco).
• The cotton is sold as lint or seed the sale being controlled by Cottco.
• Lint is used to make clothes, blankets and furniture fabrics in the textile industry while seed is used to manufactured vegetable oil and livestock protein cake.
• Both lint and seed are also exported for foreign currency during this period.

Problems

• Pests particularly weevils and aphids can destroy the crop.
• Exceptionally long, wet seasons spoil the crop as sunshine and heat are necessary for ripening.
• Competition is stiff from wool, silk and synthetic fibres from oil and coal.
• In a country like Zimbabwe, cotton picking is done manually, requiring a lot of contract labour.
• Some farmers do not burn stalks at prescribed times, leading to outbreaks of diseases.

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