BUSINESS REPORTER
THE Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco) has resumed payment to farmers seed cotton delivered to depots and common buying points after engagement of relevant authorities, board chairman Sifelani Jabangwe said yesterday.
The company has been not paying farmers for three weeks due to the “prevailing liquidity position in the market”.
“Payment modalities are still being refined partnership with other stakeholders to ensure maximum convenience to farmers,” Jabangwe said, as he urged farmers to shun side marketing and deliver the crop to designated points.
He said this year’s output will be over 90,000 metric tonnes (MT).
“Currently a total of 44,500MT of seed cotton have been delivered and hopes are high that the full intake for the current season will double last year’s output of 46,000MT,” Jabangwe said.
A recent government report showed that cotton production is expected to go up 31% to over 152 000MT during the 2022/2023 summer cropping season from around 116 000MT achieved in the previous season following good rains across the country.
The cotton marketing season began on May 22.
