Kwimba expects 75 per cent harvest increase in cotton

Kwimba. Kwimba District Commissioner, Mr Mtemi Msafiri has said that the district is expecting to harvest 10,000 tons of cotton during this harvesting season, which is an increase of 75 percent compared to the previous cotton farming seasons.

He noted that the rise in cotton harvest has been attributed by knowledge provided to cotton farmers on how to effectively practice cotton farming including controlling pests.

According to him, a total of 24,000 acres of cotton were planted during the in the current cotton farming season. He explained that many farmers had shunned growing cotton due to less harvested yields.

“Extension agricultural officers have established farming lessons on cotton growing to farmers in a move to improve yields,” he said

However, he warned cotton farmers of selling their harvests beyond the municipality in a bid to increase revenue collection.

The Member of Parliament for Sumve Constituency, Mr Richard Ndassa, said that the relevant authorities should raise the price of cotton from the current Sh1, 000 per kilo. “Poverty level among cotton farmers is high despite the crop being expected to improve their livelihoods,” he said