The president of the Cashew Cotton Council hosted a press conference at the institution's premises.

After three years of implementing the zoning policy, which consists of allocating exclusive areas of operation to each of the cotton companies on a concession basis, the cotton sector is once again arousing enthusiasm among producers.

This is one of the satisfactions that the president of the Cashew Cotton Council, Adama Coulibaly, insisted on emphasizing on May 9, during a press conference he hosted in the premises of his organization on the 15th floor of the old Caistab in the Plateau.

According to Adama Coulibaly, the number of producers increased from 88,522 during the 2017-2018 campaign to 102,860 during the previous campaign, an increase of 14,338 planters (16.2%).

At the same time, cultivated areas increased from 327,204 ha in 2017-2018 to 392,131 ha in 2018-2019, an increase of 19.8%.

This also corresponds to an achievement rate of 106.3% of the objectives (369,000 ha to be planted) that the Cashew Cotton Council has set for the year 2018-2019.

This improvement also relates to the production of seed cotton, which is 458,762 tonnes in 2018-2019 against 412,646 tonnes during the previous campaign, an increase of 11.2%.

The objectives have thus been achieved at 103.6%, given that 442,800 tonnes were initially targeted. Overall, these performances propelled Côte d'Ivoire to 3rd place in Africa behind Mali and Benin.

An economic operator suspended for low performance

In addition, Adama Coulibaly explained the withdrawal of the exploitation zone n° 4 in the Department of Sinématiali, initially attributed to the company Sicosa 2.0 and its attribution to the Compagnie Ivoirienne de Coton.

According to him, the low yield - 1031 kg/ha against a national average of 1261 kg/ha - due to the insufficient coverage of the area with inputs, its late delivery and its non-delivery for food production are some of the -one of the reasons for the suspension of the company.

But also the failure of the supervision system, the delay in the payment of ten days and the non-payment of rebates.

More outlets to seek out for cashew

Pending confirmation of the figures, Adama Coulibaly indicated that the cumulative purchases of cashew nuts are currently 371,531 tons against 530,977 tons and 520,067 tons respectively in 2018 and 2017. And cumulative exports are 245,570 tons against 262 765 tonnes on the same date, in 2018.

It also appears that the average Fob (Free on board) price is 709 FCfa/Kg against 928 FCfa for the period in 2018 and the cumulative deliveries to processing units is 21,260 tonnes, i.e. 16.4% of the forecast total. of 2019 against 37,766 tonnes in 2018.

The President of the Cashew Cotton Council attributed this drop to the importance of supply in relation to demand.

This is how he expressed his institution's desire to increase opportunities by turning to Western countries, particularly the United States.

Adama Coulibaly also underlined the relief felt by the producers thanks to the agreement obtained with the Vietnamese Group, T&T, which wishes to supply up to 200,000 tons of cashew nuts.

He did not fail to warn economic operators who would try to buy the product below the price set by the government.