One of Africa’s top cotton growers, Burkina Faso, revised its 2017-18 cotton production to 563,000 tons, down from earlier estimate of 650,000 tons.

It had earlier showed a downward projection of its cotton harvest owing to the fact that insufficient rains coupled with pest invasion during sowing period decreased production.

Cotton is the second largest export item for Burkina Faso. It accounts for around 15 per cent revenue to the country’s foreign exchange, and employs about four million people.

The revised estimate is 17.5 per cent lower than the country’s previous season’s output of 683,000 tons.

This will be the second consecutive year when Burkina Faso would miss its initial cotton production target. Last season, too, the country missed its target of 700,000 tons due to less rainfall.

However, the 2016-17 production of 683,000 tons was around 17 per cent more than the 586,000 tons harvested in 2015-2016.