Ivory Coast is aiming to boost its seed cotton output to 600,000 tonnes in the next two years, the head of the country's industry regulator said on Thursday, marking the latest advance for a sector recovering from a decade of war and political crisis. The country - the world biggest cocoa producer - was also one of West Africa's major cotton exporters, with an annual output of about 400,000 tonnes, before a 2002-2003 civil war split the country in two and halved production. Output has been growing over the past five years thanks to government and donor efforts. "We were able to reach 400,000 tonnes during the season that just finished," Malamine Sanogo, the managing director of the Cotton and Cashew Council, told Reuters.
