Africa’s biggest cotton producer Burkina Faso has asked Bayer Crop Science to help produce genetically modified cotton even as the government decided to stop planting a variety introduced by Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company. Burkina Faso will only grow conventional cotton this season but doesn’t rule out a return to genetically modified cotton, according to Wilfried Yameogo, managing director of state-controlled Sofitex, the largest buyer in the West African nation.

In April, Burkina Faso said it was completely phasing out Monsanto’s cotton because the length of the fiber degraded, which hurt revenue for three consecutive seasons. But if Monsanto can restore the quality of the crop, the government will tell farmers to resume planting genetically modified cotton, said Yameogo, who was appointed the same month.

Burkina Faso’s request to Bayer CropScience, the agricultural unit of German chemicals company Bayer AG, is ‘under consideration,’ company spokesman Richard Breum said. Meanwhile, the cotton industry continues to negotiate for compensation it seeks from Monsanto, as buyers and producers estimate they’ve lost $82 million during the past three seasons.