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Burkina Faso Says Cotton Production Increases After It Discontinues Monsanto Variety

By Guz Trompiz • Reuters
Burkina Faso The entrance to the Monsanto Company, headquartered in St. Louis, is shown in a file photo from June 28, 2005.  AP PhotoJames A. Finley, File
JAN 17, 2017 LISTEN
The entrance to the Monsanto Company, headquartered in St. Louis, is shown in a file photo from June 28, 2005. (AP Photo/James A. Finley, File)

PARIS • Burkina Faso estimates its production of raw cotton for the 2016-17 harvest will rise by 25 percent compared to the previous harvest as favorable rainfall boosts output, the country's agriculture minister said on Monday.

The west African country's growers had reverted entirely to conventional cotton for the new crop, after blaming a genetically modified (GM) variety supplied by U.S. seed maker Monsanto for a decline in cotton quality.

The 2016-17 harvest, which is expected to total 750,000 tonnes, was showing improved quality as well as production, minister Jacob Ouedraogo told reporters in Paris.

Burkina Faso's cotton producers had complained that increased levels of short fibers in their GM cotton had impacted its market value, and last April announced they were seeking 48.3 billion CFA francs ($78 million) in compensation from Monsanto.

Monsanto has acknowledged changes in cotton fiber length, but argued that fiber quality is also influenced by environmental conditions and that other cotton varieties have shown length variations.

The talks between Burkina's producers and Monsanto were continuing, Ouedraogo added.

The minister was in Paris to sign an agreement with French partners, including a foundation of oilseed group Avril, to develop a soybean sector in Burkina Faso.

He also argued that the cotton industry had not developed enough local value-added processing.

Soybean production, which generates oil and protein for human consumption as well as producing livestock feed, would be based on non-GM varieties, he said.

The project aims to raise soybean production, currently marginal in the country, to 100,000 tonnes over the next five years and also nurture a domestic processing industry to keep jobs and revenues in the country, said Ouedraogo.

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