Sudan Looks Forward To Regaining Cotton Status
26 March, 2017
KHARTOUM, 26 March 2017 (Sudanow) - Cotton that persistently remained as the mainstay of the economy for nearly a century, has in recent years been driven to the back seats.
It has been grown in a number of government- run agricultural schemes particularly in the Gezira Scheme, the world’s largest agricultural project run by a single administration (total area of the scheme is 2.2 million feddans). It was the world’s biggest cotton farm until issuance of the act of 2005 which provided for the freedom of growing other crops and ended the obligatory plantation of cotton. (See: The Gezira Scheme- A Collapsing Giant).
However, with the introduction of genetically modified cotton varieties - with their high yield - farmers have started once again to sense an economic value in the product.
Many an observer would now say that it would be a real bonanza if Sudan could produce five tons of cotton per hectare growing Bt cotton, like what had happened elsewhere in the World.
Given the severe hardship the nation had gone through by the secession of Southern Sudan in 2011 that caused the country to lose 80% of its oil revenue, such observers consider it worthwhile to expand the cultivation of Bt. Cotton to remedy the economic situation.
The economic observers argue that a cotton produce of such a magnitude is not an impossible dream in view of the experiment of South Kyrgyzstan. In cooperation with China that started in 2003 the North Asian cotton produce had reached such high levels.
In practical terms, Sudan is seeking Chinese investment in its agro- industry, aiming to turn the emerging sector into a minaret of bilateral economic ties.
Sudan’s business relations with China had previously been focused on the petroleum sector, much of which had been concentrated in South Sudan.
Sudan is the largest country in Africa with a total area of 2.5 million square km. Although Sudan has an arable land area of 84 million hectares, qualifying it to be dubbed the World’s breadbasket, only 20% of this arable land mass is utilized for agriculture.
Cotton is one of the most important Sudanese crops and was the main foreign exchange earner in the pre-oil stage.
Sudan adopted Bt cotton in June 2012 after the constitution of the National Biosafety Council.
Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism (GMO) cotton variety which produces an insecticide to bollworm.
Only one variety of Bt. Cotton, named Seini1, was released for commercialization for both irrigated and rain-fed areas. Seini1 is a Chinese Bt-cotton genotype (G. hirsutum) carrying the Cry 1A gene from Bacillus thurengenesis (Bt); a hybrid CN-C01 was approved for commercial production by the Chinese National Authority in 2004.
Bollworm infestation has always been blamed for the decline of cotton productivity in Sudan. The introduction of Bt cotton in Sudan was thus a welcome change and is expected to boost cotton productivity, restore cotton as a major cash crop, and serve as a major contributor to the country's economy.
Specialist in Sudanese-Chinese relations Elsir M. Nour said: "Chinese investment in our agricultural industry is at an initial stage and the investment volume is small compared with what People’s China had invested in the petroleum sector".
Nour has expected prospects of the agricultural investment to become “very bright" if the nation combined its land and resources with Chinese technology, Chinese management expertise and Chinese financial support.
He added that the key task for Sudan now is to enhance its agricultural output and increase exports of cotton, meat, sugar and sesame to China.
"We would like Chinese investors to process raw materials in Sudan and to increase these raw materials’ added value," he added.
Wu Fang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce has said that China needs "a comprehensive plan for agricultural cooperation with Sudan which includes aid, investment and technology".
Wu Fang has deplored the fact that the promotion of Sudan’s agricultural industry was somewhat handicapped by the secession of South Sudan, which went away with 80 percent of the oil resources.
Indicating the bright prospects of Sino-Sudanese relations, Zhou Xin, deputy General Manager of China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group Ltd, also called for more support from the Sudanese government and the implementation of favorable policies.
Nowadays the Sudanese dream of restoring the status of its cotton productivity is coming so close after cooperation agreements were concluded between Khartoum and Beijing.
Last August Speaker of the Gazira State Legislative Council disclosed that the Sudanese government and Chinese companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing the latter to grow one million acres of cotton in Sudan (one acre=0.42 hectares).
Last May, Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Mutaz Musa, revealed that his Ministry was to implement 155 electricity projects with Chinese cooperation at a cost of $ 10 billion.
He said that his government would fund those projects from multiple sources, adding that the five-year plan includes power plants and dams.
On Wednesday, speaker of the Gazira state Legislative Council Jalal Min Allah Gibril said Chinese companies would cultivate cotton on an area of 450,000 feddans in his state besides building textile and ready-made clothing factories.. (One feddan=2400 square meters)
In 2013, the then Sudan’s Minister of Agriculture Abdel Halim al-Mutafi, announced that his government had signed an agricultural cooperation agreement with Beijing which gives Chinese companies several opportunities to operate in Sudan.
Hashim Hago Ibrahim, President and Director-General of the Sudanese cotton exporter El-Dali and El-Mazmoum National Co, said that the current level of cooperation between Sudan and China in agricultural services and technology is insufficient to meet the ambitions of both sides.
In 2012 Sudan cultivated only 19,300 hectares with Bt cotton. In 2013 that area was increased to 61, 530 hectares (89% of the country’s overall area cultivated with cotton). This year the area cultivated with cotton scored nearly a 100% jump, with a cultivated area of some 78,500 hectares.
The endogenous control of bollworms results in a reduction of the production cost, an increase in cotton productivity and the maintenance of a favorable environmental balance. In addition, Bt cotton contributes to a reduction in the damage caused by sucking insects and in the improvement of cotton quality by limiting stickiness. The net profit for farmers from cultivating BT cotton was estimated to reach $405 per hectare.
A total of 61,530 hectares of Bt cotton were planted in Sudan in 2013, grown by about 27,000 farmers, up more than three-fold from the 20,000 hectares of 2012. Of Sudan's total national cotton hectare of 78,573.6 hectares in 2014, 99% was biotech cotton either in irrigated or rain-fed areas.
The commercially grown Bt cotton variety named “Seeni 1” was released by the National Variety Release Committee in March 2012 and approved by the Bio - safety Authority for commercial production in June 2012.
In 2012, Bt cotton saved 37% of the direct cost of cotton production. Producing On-Bt cotton was much more costly at $ 886 per hectare, compared with $ 586 for Bt cotton.
“Sudan is the first COMESA member state to commercialize a GM crop, thus providing a good experiential learning base for COMESA countries,” said Dr. Get chew Belay, Senior Biotechnology Policy Advisor–Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern & Southern Africa (ACTESA/COMESA).
Dr Belay said that his visit to Sudan was an important activity in view of the recently developed COMESA Bio-safety Policy intended to provide an enabling scientific regional risk assessment of GMOs for commercial planting, trade and access to emergency food aid for COMESA Member States. “The lessons learned by Sudanese farmers should be shared for the benefit of member states within the region,” said Dr. Belay.
Earnest efforts are now being made by the Sudanese government to revive both cotton production and the domestic textile industry. The Bt cotton program is an effort that responds to a real need and is poised to position Sudan back in the global map as a major player in the world of cotton trade.
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MA/YH/AS
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Suresh TK
25 December, 2019I need some Ginners contact to procure 2 ND type cotton suitable for Course count spinning