Africa’s top cotton grower Burkina Faso to see surge in cotton output by as much as 20 percent in the 2017-18 season to 820,00 metric tons, an industry official in Burkina Faso said.

The target is realistic and achievable if rains are favorable and well distributed over the season and if parasites are kept under control, Georges Yameogo, general secretary of the nation’s cotton association said.

The price for the new season was set at 245 CFA Francs ($0.40) a kilogram up from 235 Francs the previous season. The costs of fertilizers, insecticides and seeds remain unchanged.

Georges Yameogo said that Burkina Faso harvested 683,000 tons of cotton in the 2016-17 season, which was below the target of 700,000 tons due due lack of rains in September. This is still 17 percent higher than the 586,000 tons harvested in the 2015-16 season.

The West African nation decided last year to halt the production of genetically modified cotton, a variety introduced by Monsanto Co., because the short fiber was hurting its reputation and cutting revenue. The return to conventional seeds last season made it possible to eliminate almost all short fibers.