Over 30,000 cotton farmers have accessed seed and inputs from the Cotton Council of Malawi (CCM) this year.
The council is targeting 50,000 metric tonnes (mt) of cotton in the current growing season.
Under the initiative, farmers are getting a package containing a 5-kilogramme (kg) pack of Open Pollinated Variety (OPV) seed at a cost of K50,000 and associated inputs such as chemicals and foliar fertiliser totalling K9,000 per one acre.
CCM Chief Executive Officer Cosmas Luwanda said the council had received an overwhelming response from farmers.
“The farmers we have registered are getting the 280mt seed we procured and now we have stopped farmer registration because we are facing challenges in the supply of the seed.
“We also have a programme with the National Economic Empowerment Fund, which is providing loans to farmers to access inputs,” Luwanda said.
Cotton Farmers Association President Lapson Zidana said it was encouraging that more farmers were interested in venturing into cotton production.
“It is true and a lot of our members have received seed under the initiative. We believe production will significantly improve,” Zidana said.
Cotton output has been on a downward spiral since 2011 when the country produced over 100,000mt.
Last season, Malawi produced less than 10,000mt.
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