Cotton growers praise ‘ease of use’

Mr Modibo Fanéké KEITA is National Chairman of the Union of Agricultural Cotton Producers of Western Mali*, Kita section, in West Mali (SYPAMO) and also member of his cooperative and cotton grower.

He grows 18 hectares of cotton, maize and millet/sorghum.  His cooperative covers 320 ha of the same crops, which is quite a lot for the region. Half of these are sprayed with herbicide. His point of view is that one cannot grow crops easily and in a profitable way without herbicides like paraquat that are efficient on difficult weeds in difficult conditions. Also, the cooperative sells a lot of Gramoxone and there are never any stocks of product left. Growers are keen to get it as soon as it’s available.

“I’ve been using Gramoxone** since 1998. Of possible intoxication or health hazards that people are sometimes talking about, I haven’t heard and this inspite of the (large) volume we use” he says, “growers around the cooperative know how to safely use crop protection products and Gramoxone is really easy to use. I think this product should continue to help farmers get better productivity and revenues out of their crops”.

Read full testimonial of Mr Keita, here (in French).

For more information on safe use of pesticides when spraying, read about the Five Golden Rules.

*(SYPAMO - Syndicat des Producteurs Agricoles de Mali Ouest)

**Gramoxone is a brand name under which the active ingredient, paraquat, is sold.