Chad’s cotton output for the just-ended 2021-22 season fell 33% short of forecasts, an official at of the Central African nation’s government-run Coton Tchad Societe Nouvelle said Tuesday.
CotonTchad-SN’s secretary-general and head of communication Ibrahim Malloum said 135,000 metric tons of cotton was produced during the season, missing the projected 200,000 tons.
Mr. Malloum blamed the drop in cotton output to prolonged rainfall that flooded and destroyed cotton farmlands.
“While we had foreseen a huge rise of 46% harvest emerging from some areas, torrential rainfall came and flooded 4,700 hectares of farmlands, while another 7,314 hectares were abandoned by farmers,” Mr. Malloum said.
The company’s cotton harvest hit a record 260,000 metric tons in the 2019-20 season.
CotonTchad is 60%-owned by Singapore-based Olam International, 35% by the Chadian government and 5% by cotton producers.
Chad exports about half its cotton, mainly to European and Asian countries, according to government and industrial data.
