Tanzania expects its 2009/10 cotton crop to fall 32 percent to 250,000 tonnes as farmers turn to other crops because of low prices on the world market, Agriculture Minister Stephen Wassira said on Tuesday.
The Minister made the following statements:
Cotton production has deteriorated much more compared with other crops. It's expected that cotton production will drop from 368,229 tonnes in 2008/09 to 250,000 tonnes in 2009/10
To help stem farmers' exodus from the crop, the government will give them an extra 80 shillings per kg of cotton in 2009/10, raising the price to 440 shillings per kg.
The country expected to harvest 10.92 million tonnes of food in 2008/09, of which 5.27 million tonnes would be grains. Demand for grains stood at 6.5 million tonnes.
Due to insufficient rains in some parts of the country, the food harvest had fallen short of their targets, especially for grains.
To prevent any shortages and to help keep prices low, the government intended to buy 165,000 tonnes of grain locally for sale at subsidised prices in affected areas.
Observations on banking, finance, investment, communications, travel, and life in Tanzania by a Dar Economist. You can reach me at: uchumiwetu[at]gmail[dot]com
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