KHARTOUM, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Sudan is planning to cultivate 800,000 feddans (336,000 hectares) of cotton to utilize the revenues of the cash crop, whose prices are rising internationally, official SUNA news agency reported Saturday.
"We are planning to cultivate 800,000 feddans with cotton crop at both irrigated and rain-fed sectors in Sudan," Ahmed Al-Tigani, national coordinator of cotton research at the agricultural research authority, an affiliate of Sudan's Agriculture Ministry, was quoted as saying.
Around 95 percent of the total area will be cultivated with the Chinese genetically modified cotton type and the Indian hybrid type, while the remaining five percent will be cultivated with traditional samples, he said.
He added that cotton farmers in Sudan are eager to resume cultivation of the crop under its internationally rising prices, pointing to the government's readiness to support it.
Cotton revenues in Sudan have greatly declined recently, from 188 million U.S. dollars in 1990 to 24 million dollars during 2013-2014.
Since 2016, China has entered as a major investor in the field of cotton cultivation in Sudan with cultivation of 450,000 feddans (189,000 hectares) as part of a plan targeting one million feddans (420,000 hectares).
