Ivory Coast cocoa farmers hope for more rain, sun to boost crop growth

Soil moisture is helping the April-to-September mid-crop to develop across most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions, farmers said on Monday, adding that they hoped for a mix of rain and sunshine to boost growth even more.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season which runs officially from April to mid-November, when rains are abundant and often heavy. However, they were below average last week, farmers said, adding that the weather was often cloudy and overcast.

Although beans continued leaving the bush, growers feared a drop in quality.

They said if the weather remained adequate with a good mix of sun and rains until late June, it would help the last stage of the mid-crop.

In the western region of Soubre, in the southern region of Agboville and Divo and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were below average, farmers said they expected significant volumes of beans to leave the bush.

However, they warned that harvesting would start to fall from July. So far, they haven't seen any signs of damage in their plantations.

"The weather is good, there are still enough pods on the trees, and the future looks promising,” said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 37.1mm of rain fell last week, 18.4mm below the five-year average.

In the west-central region of Daloa and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were below average, farmers said weather conditions from June to late July would be crucial for the last stage of the mid-crop and the start of the next main crop.

"In the next few weeks, harvesting will drop sharply and we'll be watching to see how the end of the mid-crop and the start of the next main crop progress,” said Albert N’Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 9.1mm of rain fell last week, 20.8mm below the five-year average.

The weekly average temperature across Ivory Coast last week ranged from 25.7 to 29°C.

Reuters