Cameroon's 2007/2008 seed cotton production is forecast to fall by 25 percent to 141,000 tonnes from 187,400 tonnes last year as delayed rains, high input costs and low prices reduce output, the national cotton company said.
"(The) seed cotton production forecast for the 2007/2008 season is 141,000 tonnes as against 187,400 tonnes for 2006/2007," SODECOTON said in an email to Reuters.
"There has been a delay in the return of the rains at the beginning of the season which has resulted in a reduction in the surface area cultivated, delay in sowing, drop in output and, therefore, a drop in total production," it added.
SODECOTON said that Cameroon, like other West African cotton producers, was also suffering from low world dollar prices for its product. The cost of imported fertilisers had also risen over the last two years, due to increasing world fertiliser demand from expanding economies, including China and India. Cameroon's seed cotton production in 2005/2006 was 220,864 tonnes.