19/11/2020 – Benin/West Africa — auf Deutsch lesen
Lower production prospects despite higher yields
Production prospects indicate Benin will be West Africa’s leading cotton producer this year, despite planted area being less than last year.
The following four departments comprise approximately 90 percent of Benin’s total production: Alibori (47 percent), Borgou (20 percent), Atakora (19 percent), and Collines (4 percent). © Bremer Baumwollbörse
Benin’s cotton production for 2020/21 is estimated at 294,000 tonnes (1.35 million 480-pound bales), down 16,000 tonnes (75,000 bales /5 percent) from last year. Harvested area is estimated at 600,000 hectares (ha), down 65,000 ha (10 percent) from last year. Yield is forecast at 490 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha), up 5 percent from last year and 11 percent above the five-year average yield.
West Africa’s largest cotton producer
Benin’s cotton is sown from May to July and is harvested from October to December. Cotton is primarily produced in central and northern Benin. Benin has been West Africa’s largest cotton producer since 2018, after government and private industry started to provide more timely supply of seed and fertilizer inputs and invested in modernizing the entire cotton supply chain. Benin’s trend yield has increased in recent years and Benin’s five-year average cotton yield of 443 kg/ha is one of the highest in West Africa.
Source: USDA, World Agricultural Production, October 2020
Bremen Cotton Exchange – Bremen Cotton Report, 41-42/2020
