Staff Reporter

Cotton farmers in Sanyati have received a boost to their cotton production through the installation of a machine-picked cotton ginnery by Agri Value Chain Zimbabwe (AVCZ), a subsidiary of Pure Oil Industries.

The quality of cotton produced by cotton farmers across the country will be significantly improved by the use of the equipment.

Mr Obediah Makore, a cotton farmer in Sanyati revealed that production of good quality cotton had been compromised due to lack of specialised machinery to clean the cotton.

“We welcome the installation of the machine-picked cotton ginnery as this will enhance our cotton quality and improve our earnings per kilogram. 

“It has always been a challenge for us, before the installation of this machinery, to produce quality cotton, because it is impossible to manually get rid of all the foreign matters in the cotton, hence the need to process it using specialised machines,” said Mr Makore

Meanwhile, poultry farmers and oil expressers who have been complaining about the expensive prices they were being charged locally to buy cotton cake and cotton seeds from the ginners as compared to importing, are hoping that the installation of the machinery will lower such prices to make them affordable to local producers downstream.

“We would like to believe that since the machine cotton picker provides labour and equipment, this will ensure efficiency as they pick more cotton in less time, significantly reducing the production expenses which will have a ripple effect to downstream industries,” said Precious Makoni, a poultry farmer in Kwekwe.

Plans by AVCZ to install machine picked cotton processing equipment in major cotton farming areas are at an advanced stage.