The 2012/2013 harvest in Tanzania is likely to produce a record result. bioRe Tanzania estimates to achieve a crop of some 10,000 tonnes of seed cotton.
This is primarily due to the rain. The rainfall period usually lasts from November to February, followed by a drought until March. Duration of rainfall from March onward is key.
This year has seen rain falling from mid-March until mid-May, which resulted in the record crop substantiated by these figures: on average, 313 kg of organic cotton will be harvested per acre versus only half as much last year, i.e. 177 kg.
bioRe Tanzania managed to raise the number of certified farmers to 2,078, up from 1,944. Furthermore, owing to the high prices obtained for their crop last year, bioRe farmers increased their arable land by 2.5 acres to an average of 14 acres per farmer.
According to bioRe Tanzania, the number of bioRe farmers is going to continue to rise while surfaces will hardly be enlarged because the farmers are disappointed with this year’s cotton prices despite the bioRe premium paid on top of local prices.
Under the hallmark of the bioRe quality label, Remei AG, a Swiss trading company, has turned a vision into reality. The vision is to manufacture fashionable textiles from fair-trade organic cotton in a controlled and transparent chain of production.
Source:
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=116384
