The Manica provincial government plans to process more than a thousand tonnes of seed cotton, which will be sold on the national and international markets. Most of this product will be produced in the district of Guro, where the processing plant is located.
According to the delegate of the Cotton and Oilseeds Institute of Mozambique in Manica, Edson Tanga, the organisation has currently received more than 600 tonnes of seed cotton from producers.
He said that in recent years, more than 47,000 farmers in the region have invested in cash crops, especially cotton, soya, sesame and sunflower, because there are buyers who pay a fair price.
Last year, the government approved the maintenance of the minimum prices for seed cotton, the ginning tax and the subsidy for the minimum purchase price for producers, which were in force for the 2022-23 agricultural marketing year.
The decree approved at the time set first quality seed cotton at 33 meticais per kilo, second quality at 23 meticais per kilo and ginning at 8 meticais per kilo.
The minimum price subsidy was set at 7 meticais for each kilo of first quality seed cotton, and 4.80 meticais for second quality.