Tanzania's cotton yield in the 2008-09 crop seasons has risen by 82% to 365,731 tonnes, but sales are being hampered by the global economic slump.  In the 2007-08 (November-August) season, Tanzania produced 200,665 tonnes of cotton, earning the country $47.1 million, said Member of Tanzania Cotton Board.

Cotton harvested has already surpassed the Board's projection, made mid-last year, of a 40%to 50% jump in production for the 2008-09 season.  The Board has yet to tally how much cotton has earned so far in the current season, but said the global financial turmoil was hurting the sector.

The global slowdown -- which has led Tanzania to lower this year's economic growth forecast to 7.3% from an earlier 8% has hurt prices of commodities such as cotton and depressed markets in Europe, the United States and Asia.

The Board said it was difficult to quantify the direct loss from the slowdown, but due to it, 26,803 tonnes, or just over 148,000 bales of cotton, had yet to find buyers.

The Board further said that 98% of the crop grows in seven regions in western Tanzania known as the Western cotton growing areas, where the planting season starts in November. Most of these areas are semi-arid and cotton is the main cash crop. Most farmers grow cotton on pieces of land that average 1-2 hectares each season.

Tanzania's cotton sector has long complained of unfair competition from farmers in the United States who receive subsidies for growing their crops. Other challenges the sector faces include low quality of cotton due to rampant contamination of seed cotton and lint, and poor infrastructure for the distribution of farm inputs and collection of cotton. Major buyers of Tanzanian cotton include India, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam, Portugal, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius and Turkey.