Burkina Faso: Cotton Output Drops Due to Drought and Pest Pressures

Cotton

December 13, 2017//- Burkina Faso’s cotton production for 2017/18 is estimated at 1.3 million 480-pound bales, down 0.12 million bales from last month and down 0.01 million bales from last year, according to the latest World Agricultural Production report.

It noted that harvested area in that country is estimated at a record 0.85 million hectares (mha), up 0.095 mha from last month and up 0.15 mha from last year.

The estimated yield of 333 kilograms per hectare is the lowest since 1995 – down 19 percent from both last month and last year and down 19 percent from the 5-year average yield, the report revealed.

Burkina Faso’s cotton is sown from May to July and harvest is from late October to December. Rainfall from June through August was near average, but September’s rainfall was well below average and reduced potential yield.

Moreover, Burkina cotton farmers switched from planting Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton to conventional cotton, resulting in increased bollworm pest pressure, further reducing the estimated yield.

This report uses information from the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) global network of agricultural attachés and counselors, official statistics of foreign governments and other foreign source materials, and the analysis of economic data and satellite imagery.

Estimates of foreign area, yield, and production are from the International Production Assessment Division, FAS, and are reviewed by USDA’s Inter-Agency Commodity Estimates Committee. Estimates of U.S. area, yield, and production are from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA’s) National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The report reflects official USDA estimates released in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE-572), December 12, 2017.

African Eye Report

 

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