Raw Materials
ICAC recorder highlights organic cotton during the southern and eastern African Cotton Forum
Executive Summary
Highlights from the most recent ICAC Recorder include:
- Low productivity and yields have plagued Africa's cotton sector for decades
- Many researchers now consider organic cotton as the solution for two primary reasons:
- - The cost of fertilisers in African nations is prohibitive
- - Regenerative practices like organic production can help improve soil fertility and health
As ICAC Chief Scientist and Recorder Editor Dr Keshav Kranthi says in his opening editorial, the answer might very well be the former. One of the biggest reasons organic production might be the solution is the high cost of synthetic fertiliser in Africa, where prices can be more than 12 times higher than they are in India. For this reason, among others, researchers are now increasingly voicing their preference for regenerative agricultural practices over chemical-intensive methods to improve soil fertility and soil health.
The XV Meeting of the SEACF was held from 29 June to 1 July 2022 in Montebelo Indy Maputo Congress Hotel, Maputo Province, Mozambique. The meeting was jointly conducted by the ICAC and the Mozambique Institute for Cotton and Oilseed (IAOM). The theme of the meeting was ‘Prospects for Organic Cotton in Africa’. There were 95 delegates from 12 countries — Colombia, Germany, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe — at the meeting.
Summaries and photos from each of the 19 sessions held during the SEACF account for the first 27 pages of this edition, followed by a feature assessing organic cotton's prospects in Nigeria.
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