Thursday, Apr 12, 2012
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Dow Jones)--Cameroon's government-run Cotton Development Authority said Wednesday that it will increase cotton production in the 2012-13 season by 16%.
The increase would follow the authority's securing of a XAF10 billion loan from a local bank to boost production, the company said in a statement. Mohammed Iya, general manager of the authority, signed the loan deal with the Commercial Bank of Cameroon in March, the company said. The money will be used to increase the size of its cotton acreage, it said.
Cameroon's cotton season runs from May through April.
The Cotton Development Authority, or Sodecoton, is the country's sole cotton grower.
Its 2010-11 cotton output totaled 161,800 metric tons. It said earlier this year that 2011-12 output could reach 165,000 tons due to the addition of newly opened farms.
-By Emmanuel Tumanjong, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +237-9655-6261; tnuel@yahoo.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-04-12 0328GMT
