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Cote D’Ivoire’s
main cotton growers’ association trimmed its 2010-11 season production
forecast to 215,000 tonnes from 220,000 tonnes, its executive secretary
said on Thursday.

It marks the second
downward revision since the season started in May, as farmers hoping to
cash in on high world prices reported not receiving seeds normally
distributed by the government as a political crisis drags on.

“We are still in
crisis. The conditions are not ideal,” Christophe N’Dry, executive
secretary of the Cotton Ginners Association told Reuters in an
interview, adding he was also concerned about the 2011-12 season.

He said some 214,410 hectares were cultivated this season instead of the 220,000 hectares previously forecast.

Despite the problems, he said production would still outpace last year’s 185,346 tonnes. “For us, it is enough,” he said.

Cote D’Ivoire has
been in turmoil since a dispute over who won a November 28 presidential
election. The poll was meant to reunite the country after a 2002-03
civil war split it in two, but has instead deepened divisions.

The West African
nation, also the world’s leading cocoa producer, once grew 400,000
tonnes of cotton annually, but the war has left its dry
cotton-producing north in rebel hands.

The Cotton Ginners
Association had initially predicted that the 2010-11 season would yield
250,000 tonnes, but cut that forecast to 220,000 tonnes in August.

N’Dry said he was concerned that the 2011-12 season could be hit hard if the political crisis was not resolved soon.

“We fear for the
next season because of the political situation. Generally, we start in
January to gather seeds and inputs in preparation for the next season.
If the crisis continues, this will be difficult,” he said.

He said that arranging lines of credit with banks to purchase inputs could be hindered by the standoff.

African leaders are
trying to negotiate a solution between incumbent leader, Laurent
Gbagbo, and his rival Alassane Ouattara, both of whom claim to have won
the poll.

Ouattara has the backing of Western powers and African states, but Gbagbo has the support of the national army.

REUTERS