Page 36 - 21 Cotton SA February 2020

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BLIK OP TEKSTIELVORSING, OPLEIDING EN ONTWIKKELING

UPDATE ON SMALLHOLDER

COTTON FARMERS

FROM NKOMAZI

by Tertius Schoeman, Cotton SA

A group of smallholder cotton farmers in the The success story of the Nkomazi farmers
Nkomazi district in Mpumalanga has been shows that making use of a functional cost-
showing a steady growth in yield on their reporting tool within the farming community
rainfed fields over the past few years. In is non-negotiable, especially for smallholder
2014, during their first season with Cotton SA farmers, in order to farm sustainably. Cotton
as a partner, the farmers averaged a yield of SA is providing day-to-day mentoring and
553 kg of seed cotton per hectare, with only project management services to ensure that vital
seed and insecticides to their disposal. This was statistics and accurate records are being kept.
remarkable given that the average smallholder More training is needed in production skills to
yield in Africa is around 395 kg of seed cotton ensure continuous success.
per hectare.
In 2017, the group’s average went up to
724 kg/ha, still without the use of fertiliser. The
715 farmers who were actively involved in the
project planted 1 750 ha of fields in 2018. The
preliminary figure for the 2019 harvest is a
seed cotton average of 1 100 kg/ha, achieved
with all the necessary inputs available, which
include assistance with land preparation, access
to funding to purchase seed, insecticides, and
fertiliser. Although it is early days to predict
the grading and quality results for the season,
top-class results can be expected from the crop
given the farmers’ production history.

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