Cotton crop is growing well in the Tambacounda (East) region of the West African country of Senegal, and production is expected to reach 35,000 tons this year, according to Gueye Goule, head of agriculture methods and techniques at Textile Fibres Development Corporation of Senegal (SODEFITEX).



"The production this year will be around 35,000 tons. This will make a ton per hectare, because the area planted with cotton is estimated at 35,000 hectares,” said Gueye during a recent visit to the countryside, at the initiative of the Senegalese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Infrastructure, and the World Bank, Senegalese Press Agency reported.



The visit was organized as part of the implementation of the Agricultural Productivity Programme in West Africa (PPAAO), derived from the agricultural program of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).



Researchers at the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research (ISRA), and representatives of the west and central African Council for Agricultural Development (CORAF, 22 countries), the National Agency for Agricultural and Rural (ANCAR) of Senegal and the National Fund for Agricultural and Food Research (NARF) were among those who participated in the visit to the countryside.



At present, cotton cultivation is going on well. In recent years, cotton yield was very low due to low prices and irregular rainfall. However, the trend is positive since the last two years, Gueye said. In 1992, Sengal produced a record cotton output of 50,000 tons, but production declined thereafter.



Last month, the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ (BCI) was launched in the Senegal’s Kolda region for the revival of the cotton sector, after its successful implementation carried out in the neighboring country of Mali. The initiative would help in the revival of cotton growing in Kolda region in three years’ time.