Zimbabwe's cotton industry faces imminent collapse due to the rampant side-marketing of the 19,000 tonnes of this year’s crop earmarked for next season’s planting seed. Quton Seed managing director Rob Jarvis said an increasing number of growers were selling their special their crop to unregistered buyers.
"Despite the fact that we have an industry body backed by government to prevent cotton being sold to buyers who have not financed its production, it is still happening. Now next season’s crop is under threat since this year’s seed multiplication crop, specially grown to become next year’s seed, is part of this illicit trade. If this is not stopped immediately there will be no cotton crop next year," warned Jarvis.
Side-marketing occurs when growers, under contract to cotton ginners who have financed the crop, sell their seed cotton to another buyer. After years of wrangling, the industry finally formed the National Association of Cotton Ginners, Marketers and Buyers and a regulatory framework was put in place with government’s blessing. The latest development indicates that not all association members are adhering to the regulations they helped formulate.
More than 6,500 growers are under special contract to grow the strategic seed crop from their combined 23,000 hectares. To ensure quality planting seed, a strict growing and ginning regime is put in place each year by Quton Seed Company, licensed by government to produce the nation’s planting seed requirements.
Jarvis noted that because of the importance of planting seed, Quton selects growers for their production skills to grow crops for planting seed. These crops are monitored throughout the growing and harvesting stages by field experts and government seed inspectors. Growers, who are supplied with inputs on credit, are then paid a premium for their crop.
"These crops are top quality and some buyers who do not have the future of the industry at heart have obviously targeted them. This is a potential disaster and we will be engaging the relevant authorities in areas where seed crops are zoned," Jarvis said.
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