KADOMA, Jul 14 (NewsDay Live) - Government has embarked on new initiatives to revive the cotton sector, with two interspecific hybrid varieties undergoing trials at eight different sites in cotton-producing regions.
This move follows a 96% drop in cotton production over the past 13 years, leaving the textile industry hanging by a thread.
The trials, being led by the Cotton Reserach Institute, are being conducted at eight sites nationwide, including Chitekete in Gokwe, to identify suitable varieties for each region. The trials form part of an ongoing research programme that led to the release of two interspecific hybrid varieties: CRI-HYB1 and CRI-HYB2, in 2023.
CRI acting head Marco Mare said the release of the two hybrids did not signal a shift away from the open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) that the majority of Zimbabwe's rain-fed smallholder cotton farmers had become accustomed to.
"The goal is climate-resilient cotton matched to each growing environment. The CRI-HYB1 and CRI-HYB2 varieties are being pushed for high input and irrigated systems, while open-pollinated varieties continue to be developed for farmers operating under rain-fed conditions," Mare said.
This distinction matters enormously in a country where cotton is grown predominantly by smallholder farmers who lack irrigation facilities and cannot afford the higher input costs that hybrid seed production demands.
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Research by CRI scientists, published in 2025, found that under dry conditions, locally-bred OPVs recorded significantly higher ginning outturn percentages than imported hybrids. Ginning outturn determines how much fibre is extracted from seed cotton and, therefore, how much a farmer earns per kilogramme delivered.
Prior to the CRI research, farmers in Chitekete, one of the eight trial sites, had recorded some of the highest total seed cotton yields at 3 534 kilogrammes per hectare.
Zimbabwe's cotton industry produced between 28 000 and 29 000 tonnes in 2025, a massive drop from the 350 703 tonnes recorded in the 2010/11 season. The record 96% decline in cotton production has weakened the domestic textile industry and increased reliance on imports. Cotton is the country's second-largest foreign currency earner after tobacco, and directly supports over a million rural households, particularly in the drier provinces of Matabeleland, Midlands, and Mashonaland West.
The Agricultural Marketing Authority projects output of approximately 38 500 tonnes in 2026, a 33% increase from 2025, though still far below what the industry considers a viable scale.
Mare said the CRI would continue evaluating varieties across multiple locations and seasons to deliver options that are both stable and productive.
"We need varieties that perform consistently, not just in one season or one location," he said.
He urged farmers adopting improved varieties to adhere strictly to recommended agronomic practices, including plant spacing, weed control, and pest management, warning that seed genetics alone would not translate into better yields if crop management remained poor.
At last year's World Cotton Day commemoration in Harare, Lands and Agriculture permanent secretary Obert Jiri noted that average national yields had fallen to around 500 kilogrammes per hectare against a technical potential that researchers say could reach several tonnes per hectare under good management. Experts attributed that to inadequate and delayed input distribution, with some contractors supplying farmers only with seed rather than the full package of seed, fertilisers, and chemicals.