During the XV Southern and Eastern Africa Cotton Forum (SEACF), taking place this Thursday, June 30, in Maputo, the challenge was made to Mozambican producers to start the transition from traditional to organic cotton production, for being more ecological and profitable.
“The cotton agenda in Mozambique is emerging and is framed in the development policy of the agricultural sector, and it is one of the challenges launched in this forum: the transition from conventional cotton production to a more organic production,” said the inspector general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rui Mapatse, during his opening speech.
For Mapatse, “the organic cotton cultivation in Mozambique will not be easy to implement, it requires the use of appropriate technologies, research on best practices, the introduction of technical assistance packages for producers, and the necessary cultural changes”, he said, alluding, afterwards, to the advantages of this transition at the level of cotton cultivation for the sector, a fact corroborated by some of the producers present, who believe that the production of organic cotton will significantly change the lives of family producers of ‘white gold’.
“For us, producers, it can actually be beneficial because it is a segment that has a market outside the country,” said the president of the National Cotton Producers Forum, Benson Khenasse Simoco.
Organic cotton refers to a production technique that does not allow the use of synthetic (chemical) fertilizers in the process, as well as transgenic seeds.
The XV Southern and Eastern Africa Cotton Forum (SEACF) has the theme “Prospects for Organic Cotton in Africa” and runs until this Friday, July 1.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
