. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/CFMC/W/7 
11 April 2008 
 
 (08-1680) 
 Original:   French 
  
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE FRAMEWORK 
MECHANISM ON COTTON 
 
Cotton Projects
1 
 
Communication from Benin 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 22 November 2004, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Benin.  
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PROJECT N° 7 - SUPPORT FOR THE IMPROVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE 
OF SOIL FERTILITY IN THE COTTON GROWING AREAS 
 
A. J
USTIFICATION  
1. Cotton growing is the driving force of Benin's agriculture.  The support structures and 
training provided for cotton have a favourable im pact on other food crops, which explains why the 
cotton belts are the best areas for cultivating food crops  in general.  The resulting pressure on soils is 
considerable, and soil fertilization sometimes lags behind.  In the best of cases, the recommended 
mineral fertilization is applied to cotton crops, and sometimes to mai ze, both of which respond well to 
fertilizers in terms of yield.  But that, unfortunately , is the extent of mineral fertilization in Benin's 
entire farming system.  In other words, there is a de finite mineral fertilizer deficit.  And the organic 
fertilizer deficit is considerably higher, since orga nic fertilization is limited to the rare cases of 
restitution of crop residues.  The result is an incr easingly marked decline in soil fertility, and hence a 
decrease in crop yield and poor response to mineral fertilizers.  At the sa me time, it is becoming 
increasingly difficult to control weed invasion.  Tr aditional agriculture has resorted to long-term 
fallow systems to solve these different soil fertility  problems.  However, the current demographic 
pressure on the land means that there is no space left for such methods. 
B. OBJECTIVES  
2. The organic matter content of the soils, which is currently very low, must be enhanced by 
conducting, with producers, experiments in biomass management in order to improve the mineral and 
organic balance. 
3. Weed invasion of crops, which becomes more and more difficult to control starting four years 
after the area has been cleared, must be tackled by weed management techniques. 
4. Crop residue management techniques must be de veloped in order to make full use of the 
enormous quantities of cotton stems and other crop residues that are currently burned each year. 
                                                      
1 This project was distributed amongst the Development Community by e-mail on 18 August 2005. WT/CFMC/W/7 
Page 2  
 
   
5. Simple fertilizers must be used to help reduce mi neral fertilization costs.  Thus, direct sowing 
under plant cover is a source of or ganic fertilizer that should contri bute to improving the soil's organic 
content. 
C. D
ESCRIPTION  
6. Conducting of experiments in rural areas unde r the supervision of a researcher on the 
following research topics: 
(a) direct sowing under plant cover; 
(b) organic-mineral fertilization; 
(c) restitution of cotton stems and other crop residues;  and 
(d) control of weed invasion of cotton and food crops. 
7. These experiments will be continuous over a period of four years.  They will be introduced in 
various agro-ecological areas with the participation of  producers.  Before setting up the tests, samples 
will be taken from the area for analysis in order to  establish the current state of the soils, and similar 
soil analyses will be necessary at the end of the expe riment to measure the evolution of soil fertility. 
8. Soil fertility maintenance tests will be conducte d in the cotton producing areas.  Some 
200 tests will be conducted in cooperation with the communal producers' unions, or 50 tests per 
research topic.  The test protocols and observations  will be drawn up by the research team, while the 
follow-up, the maintenance, and the various measure ments will be carried out by the producers in 
accordance with the instructions set forth in the protocols. 
D. EXPECTED RESULTS  
(a) Ensuring the sustainability of cotton-based production systems through the 
maintenance of soil fertility. 
(b) Improvement in yield and quality at reduced production costs. 
(c) The results will be made available to producers through pre-extension. 
E. ESTIMATED COST :   the estimated cost of the project is CFA Francs 1.8 million. 
F. DURATION :  four years. 
G. LOCATION :  Benin. 
H. PROSPECTIVE IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS :  INRAB,  CRA-CF,  AIC,  FUPRO,  CARDER,  
DIFOV,  DPQC,  CIRAD,  DAGRIS. 
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