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The survey of the cost of production of raw cotton report is published
every three years. The last report was published in October 2007 and has
data from 31 countries. The complete report can be ordered for a cost of
US$200.00. To order, contact publications@icac.org or go to the on-line ordering page.
Introduction
The Technical Information Section (TIS) of the ICAC undertakes a survey
of the cost of production every three years. Same questionnaire has been
used to collect data from countries for the last six reports, published
since 1992. Over these years there have been some improvements in
collecting data, but there are always difficulties reconciling
accounting systems. Production systems and input supply programs also
add to lack of data on some inputs and production operations. It seems
that a large number of countries collect cost of production data only
for the ICAC.
The wish of the TIS is that every country would provide complete data so
that inter-country comparisons could be made with a higher level of
confidence. The data on the cost of production per hectare or per
kilogram of seedcotton or lint should be used very carefully. Moreover,
while doing so, data from individual countries should be reviewed. It is
difficult to explain the differences in inputs among countries or even
low and high costs among regions within countries.
Thirty countries that covered almost 90% of the area planted to cotton
in the world in 2006/07 participated in the survey. Twelve countries
provided cost of production data for more than one region/production
systems, building the total number of entries to 56. Out of the total,
29 entries are for irrigated conditions and 27 for rainfed conditions.
The cost of producing a hectare of cotton is the highest in Turkey.
However the net cost (excluding land rent and seed value) per hectare
and per kilogram of lint is the highest in Israel. The cost of producing
a kilogram of lint is more than US$1.50 in Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia,
Israel, Mexico, Myanmar, Sudan, Thailand and Turkey.
Planting seed is provided free of cost or has little cost in the West
African countries. The cost of planting seed relative to the total cost
of production is high in India, except in the North region, because they
use F1 hybrid seed. The addition of the Bt gene has further increased
the cost of planting seed. The cost of planting seed is high in
Colombia, Mexico and the USA because of the technology fee included in
the cost of seed. But, this does not seem to be the same in Australia
and South Africa.
Medium staple and extra long staple cotton are grown in Israel, and area
may vary greatly from year to year. The cost of production per hectare
for Pima and Acala is close, but yields are different. This report
includes cost of production for Pima, but Acala costs can be estimated
from a seedcotton yield of 5,850 kg/ha, lint yield of 2,020 kg/ha and
seed yield of 3,100 kg/ha.
The data from Myanmar represent rain-grown upland cotton, which accounts
for 75% of total cotton area. The share of irrigated upland cotton area
is about 4%. The remaining area is planted to G. arboreum varieties. In
Pakistan, cotton sticks have a value and can be sold for the same amount
spent on cutting of sticks from the field.
Machine picking increased significantly in Turkey in 2006/07 so, the use
of defoliants has also increased. The cost of insecticides includes the
cost of other chemicals such as herbicides, defoliants, growth
regulators and labor to apply them. In the USA, the cost of insecticides
includes the cost of herbicides and defoliants, but harvest costs are
covered under fuel, lube, and economic and fixed costs.
The U.S. data are for the year 2005/06. Data for 2006/07 will become
available in October/November 2007, after the publication of this
report. All cost of production data for the U.S. are also available
online at www.ers.usda.gov/Data/CostsAndReturns/testpick.htm.
Fertilizer costs for the U.S. also include soil conditioners and manure.
In the U.S., 69% of the area was grown under dryland/rainfed conditions.
Almost half of the cotton area in the Heartland and Fruitful Rim regions
is irrigated. Only 4% was irrigated in Eastern Upland, a region where
irrigation may have a negative impact on yields.
Many countries either did not provide economics and fixed costs data at
all, or the data were only partially complete. Some other countries
inform us that these costs are included under individual operations, but
these costs are the most variable among countries.
The last part of the report, Country Responses, is the actual data
received from countries. In some cases, countries have also indicated
the quantity of inputs. All the data in this report are as such received
from countries. The sources of data are mostly ICAC Coordinating
Agencies in member government countries. Additional sources in ICAC
member countries and non-member countries have been used, but again
there are no alterations, additions or deletions in the data.
The next report will be published in September/October 2010.
M. Rafiq Chaudhry
Head
Technical Information Section
To order, contact publications@icac.org or go to the on-line ordering page.
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