Benin should expect a cotton production of 675,000 tons for this 2020-2021 campaign against a forecast of 850,000 tons, due to the health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and capricious rainfall marked by pockets of drought during the good period recommended for sowing, deplored Friday in Gogounou the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Gaston Dossouhoui

In a press kit dedicated to the launch ceremony of the seed cotton marketing campaign for the 2020-2021 season, Friday in Gogonou, which reached Xinhua on Saturday, Minister Dossouhoui estimated that this

situation should not dull the determination and optimism of the families of the interprofession and the brave producers.

"What drives me at this precise moment is the pride of announcing to you that despite the downward revision of our seed cotton production ambitions to 675,000 tons, our country Benin will keep its rank as first cotton producer in Africa", he declared, affirming the determination of the actors of the sector to achieve 1,000,000 tons of seed cotton without increasing the current areas in the near future.

For this 2020-2021 cotton campaign, the price of 1st choice conventional seed cotton is at

265 FCFA/kg net to be paid to the producer; that of 2nd choice conventional seed cotton is 215 FCFA/kg net to be paid to the producer.

Similarly, underlines the same source, the price of 1st choice organic seed cotton is maintained at 318 FCFA/kg net to be paid to the producer, while that of 2nd choice organic seed cotton is at

258 FCFA/kg net to be paid to the producer. The price of

critical functions is set at 10 FCFA/kg of seed cotton, while that of the strategic reserve is maintained at

5 FCFA/kg of seed cotton.

Cotton represents 40% of foreign currency inflows, 12% to 13% of Benin's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), approximately 60% of the national industrial fabric and provides income for more than a third of the population. End