The Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) says more deterrent measures are still needed to curb the side-marketing of cotton by farmers.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, AMA chief executive officer Clever Isaya said side marketing remains a big threat to the cotton sector.
He said AMA has since signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with cotton contractors to contain the practice through agreed fines and penalties. Said Isaya:
Cotton is a strategic crop in the country and the second-largest foreign currency earner after tobacco.
Therefore, its value chain has to be protected. We are currently in the process of identifying common buying points which our farmers will use during the marketing season.
AMA clerks will be deployed to these points to monitor the process and ensure that there are no side-marketing activities.
He said all contractors are required by law to buy from their contracted farmers only.
Side marketing is when growers sell their produce to third parties in breach of contractual agreements that bind producers to sell their yield to the contractor who would have provided inputs to the grower.
There are varied reasons why side marketing of crops is now rife in the market but it mainly stems from lower producer prices set by the government and the contractors.
Cotton is typically harvested between April and July. The process of cotton harvesting involves picking the mature cotton bolls from the plants by hand or machine.
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