Cotton farmers have so far earned K4.7 billion from the sale of 8,120,000 kilogrammes (kg) of the commodity since commencement of the season, figures from the Cotton Council of Malawi (CCM) show.
Both CCM and Cotton Farmers Association (Cofa) say the market has been running smoothly since prices picked up to K600 per kg.
In an interview on Thursday, CCM Chief Executive Officer Cosmas Luwanda said the market is expected to close at the end of July.
“The market picked up rapidly in June where we witnessed cotton in excess of 8.1 million kgs reaching ginners’ buying spots.
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“We may extend the market until the first week of August but we believe by the end of July all the cotton produced this year will have been bought.
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The market has been running smoothly and we believe this trend will continue to the end,” Luwanda said.
In a separate interview, Cofa President Lapson Zidana said there was an improvement on the market where cotton buyers agreed to increase the buying price from the government set K580 per kg to K600.
However, he lamented delays by one of the buying companies to start cotton purchases in Karonga District.
“We are happy with how the market has been running, especially that prices picked up and allowed farmers to earn a little bit more. However, this was not in all the areas; in some areas the buyers were still offering K580, which is unfair,” Zidana said.
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He added that the developments on the market will entice more farmers to increase and join cotton production next season.
Cotton is one of the country’s top cash crops.
