Cotton Farmers in Zimbabwe Urged to Use Biotech Seeds
Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance Tendai Biti met with cotton farmers and ginners at Chitekeke Business Centre on June 23, 2012 to address the cotton price issues for the 2012 marketing season. The farmers demanded that the Cotton Ginners' Association increase the prices from $0.32 to at least $0.85 per kilogram to cover their production costs.
Biti said that the government is working hard to ensure a gazetted statutory instrument with favorable condition to farmers. He also urged the farmers to use genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds that will meet the international markets. He advised the farmers to learn from countries like India, which has become competitive through the use of biotechnology.
On the other hand, Gokwe-Kabuyuni Member of Parliament, Costin Muguti urged the government to consider giving subsidies to farmers as a way of motivating them. He explained that unprofitable prices would certainly affect the agriculture sector, which is the backbone of the country.
Read the original articles at http://allafrica.com/stories/201206270296.html and http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-06-28-cotton-farmers-urged-to-use-gm-seeds/.
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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