Cotton board upbeat on good crop

Wed, 21 Feb 2018 09:02:31 +0000

By MAILESI BANDA

THE Cotton Board of Zambia, says the recent drought period experienced in some parts of the country has not affected the crop.

CBZ executive director, Dafulin Kaonga said the drought period showed that cotton was quiet a resilient crop compared to maize.

Mr Kaonga was speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday.

He said according to information gathered after a tour of fields in Central Province, the board had discovered that cotton had more potential to withstand drought as compared to maize.

“The just passed drought period showed the farmer that cotton is quiet resilient to drought compared to other crops like maize.

“When we visited farms in affected areas it was discovered that cotton was performing better than other crops though it was growing slowly,” he said.

He said the fields visited showed that cotton was able to withstand extended drought and that this made the crop more attractive for the farmer.

He noted that though the crop was growing slowly it was performing better than other crops.

He further stated that the crop was expected to perform better now that there was stable rainfall around the country.

“The indications are that we will have a good crop, our expectations are quiet high. The fact that these other crops have had a problem made the farmers redirect their attention to the production of cotton.

He noted that the only places were likely to have a poor cotton produce are those in sandy terrains.

He explained that cotton was a resilient crop and that with the attention farmers are now giving the crop hopes of having a good crop had increased.