MANDATE
The mandate of the cotton section is to promote cotton production throughout the four regions of the country. It’s functional operations are the training of field extension staff and cotton growers on improved agronomic practices which would result in the attainment of high yields and reduced costs of production. The section is also involved in the co-ordination of the cotton industry.
The major objectives of the section are:
• To increase cotton production and productivity through the use of recommended agronomic techniques.
• To plan, implement and monitor cotton production strategies nation-wide.
• To provide effective professional leadership in the cotton industry.
• To conduct regular training of extension staff and farmers on cotton production techniques.
• To develop field fact-sheet/manual for use by extension staff and farmers.
• To simplify research information and scientific literature for use by extension staff and farmers.
• To conduct trials to acquire new information and demonstrate the recent principles to farmers for better adoption.
ACTIVITIES
The major activities comprised:
i) Seminars on recommended agricultural practices in cotton production.
ii) Conducting pesticide demonstrations
iii) Conducting cultivar demonstrations
iv) Monitoring of seed cotton marketing at the various depots.
v) Developing field fact-sheet and newsletter
vi) Conducting cotton crop assessment
vii) Unification of the cotton industry by forming cotton associations and training the associations on business management skills.
viii) Implementing projects, e.g., irrigated cotton projects and organic cotton production project.
CONTACT:
Aaron M. Dlamini
Crop Promotion Unit
P.O. Box 501
Manzini
Tel: 25052051