Tumu, Feb. 27, GNA - Ghana has the potential to produce 250,000 metric tons of lint cotton in the medium term, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture has said. He said such tonnage would require the involvement of about 500,000 farmers in cotton cultivation across the three northern regions.
Mr Ahwoi said with the current world market prices averaging US$2,500 per metric tons, the three northern regions could have earned an income of US$625 million for Ghana during the 2010 crop season.
Mr Ahwoi was addressing a durbar of cotton farmers' at Tumu to launch the cotton 93White Gold" campaign in the North West Zone of the Upper West Region on Saturday. He said the target for this year was to get 100,000 farmers in cotton production to benefit from the impressive world market price of lint cotton.
Government has therefore embarked on a cotton sector
revival programme and had zoned the cotton belt into three and
assigned to three companies for the production of the crop. The North-Eastern Zone has been allocated to Wienco
Ghana Limited in partnership with Geo-Cotton, French
Company. It covers Kasina-Nankana, Tongo/Nabdam, Bawku
West, Bawku Municipality, Garu-Tempani, Bongo, Builsa,
West Mamprusi, East Mamprusi, Buunkpurugu, Gushiegu,
Saboba, Chereponi and Zubzugu. Olam Ghana Limited has also been allocated the North-
Western Zone, covering Sissala East, Sissala West, Jirapa,
Lambussie/Karni, Lawra, Nadowli, Wa East and Wa West
Districts and Wa Municipality. Plexus in partnership with Amajaro Ghana Limited was
allocated to the North-Central Zone, which comprised
Savelugu, Tolon/Kumbungu, Bimbilla, Wullensi, Salaga, Bole,
Damongo, Buipe, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and Kpandai districts as
well as Yendi Municipality and Tamale Metropolis. Mr Ahwoi said the Ghana Cotton Company Limited would
no longer be involved in the production of seed cotton, rather
the company and other private ginneries previously involved in
cotton production, would now concentrate on ginning cotton
supplied to them by the three companies under tolling
arrangements. He said government would not permit the establishment of
new ginneries until the maximum utilization of the present
national installed ginning capacity of close to 90,000 metric
tons of lint cotton was met. The Sector Minister announced that the World Bank and
other partners were ready and willing to fund programmes for
the building of strong farmer-organisations across the cotton
zones for effective dealings with the private companies
operating in the zones. Government had also sought for international cooperation
and support from UNIDO and the Cotton Institute of Egypt to
partner the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute and
Ministry of Food and Agriculture to improve seed varieties and
agronomics. The World Bank would also fund the establishment of
Cotton Secretariat with experts to help in the revival effort
while rural infrastructure, including the rehabilitation of roads in
cotton zones would be developed to support the cotton
sector. Mr Ahwoi said government would soon convene a meeting
of a Cotton Price Fixing Committee composed of private
companies, development partners and leadership of the
farmers' organisation to begin negotiations towards the
determination of the minimum price of seed cotton in the
coming season. He assured private companies of government's
determination to support them and take all appropriate steps to
protect the interest of the companies and that of the farmers
for the mutual benefit of the two bodies. He appealed to the companies to strictly adhered to
government's policy measures and make cotton the 93gold" of
the North, saying: 93We must cultivate cotton to enrich
ourselves and develop our communities". Mr Ahwoi challenged the various district and municipal
assemblies, regional and district directors of agriculture and the
agricultural extension agents to take advantage of the
opportunity abound in cotton and take ownership of the
campaign, work together in partnership and encourage farmers
to grow the crop.
