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- Apr 11, 2008
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Tanzania Reduces Cotton Production Forecast by 38% (Update1)
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By Fred Ojambo
July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Tanzania, East Africas biggest cotton producer, cut its forecast for production of the fiber by 38 percent after a drought and poor distribution of pesticides reduced yields, the state-run Tanzania Cotton Board said.
The estimate for the 12 months through June 2010 was lowered to 250,000 metric tons of seed cotton, compared with an earlier projection of 400,000 tons, Emmanuel Mwangulumba, the regulatory officer at the board, said in a telephone interview today from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The forecast is 32 percent lower than the 368,229 tons produced last season, the board said.
The estimate was cut because of a drought in the Shinyanga region, which produces half our crop, Mwangulumba said, without elaborating. The issue of distribution of pesticides wasnt handled properly, affecting yields. Shinyanga is in western Tanzania.
The country is Africas third-biggest cotton producer, after Egypt and Burkina Faso, according to statistics e-mailed by the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Tanzania grows the medium-fiber variety of cotton, which is reaped from April through July and sold to ginners from July through December, Mwangulumba said. Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan are among the main importers of cotton, according to the board.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Johannesburg at fojambo@bloomberg.net
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Fred Ojambo
July 22 (Bloomberg) -- Tanzania, East Africas biggest cotton producer, cut its forecast for production of the fiber by 38 percent after a drought and poor distribution of pesticides reduced yields, the state-run Tanzania Cotton Board said.
The estimate for the 12 months through June 2010 was lowered to 250,000 metric tons of seed cotton, compared with an earlier projection of 400,000 tons, Emmanuel Mwangulumba, the regulatory officer at the board, said in a telephone interview today from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. The forecast is 32 percent lower than the 368,229 tons produced last season, the board said.
The estimate was cut because of a drought in the Shinyanga region, which produces half our crop, Mwangulumba said, without elaborating. The issue of distribution of pesticides wasnt handled properly, affecting yields. Shinyanga is in western Tanzania.
The country is Africas third-biggest cotton producer, after Egypt and Burkina Faso, according to statistics e-mailed by the International Cotton Advisory Committee. Tanzania grows the medium-fiber variety of cotton, which is reaped from April through July and sold to ginners from July through December, Mwangulumba said. Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan are among the main importers of cotton, according to the board.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Johannesburg at fojambo@bloomberg.net
