ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Soil moisture compensated below-average rainfall in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions last week as the April-to-September mid-crop continues to develop and yield large fruit, farmers said on Monday.
The world’s top cocoa producer is in a rainy season that runs from April to mid-November, when downpours are normally abundant and heavy.
But rains were slow to arrive this year and the start of the season was unusually hot and dry, raising concerns about the quality of mid-crop yields.
Many farmers on Monday said they were satisfied with the pace of harvesting as more and more cocoa beans were leaving the bush.
Some noted sunny spells would be necessary for beans to dry properly in coming weeks.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro and in the southern region of Divo – where rainfall was below a five-year average – farmers said crops were not as risk as foliage was very green and branches laden with pods of all sizes.
“The harvests will be good. The weather is cloudy and we think it will rain in coming days,” said Florent Dje, who farms near Daloa, where 4.5 millimetres (mm) fell last week, 20.4 mm below average.
Rain was above-average in the western region of Soubre, the southern region of Agboville and the eastern region of Abengourou, where some farmers said they were concerned enduring humidity could foster disease.
“It is raining abundantly at the moment. If there is not enough sunshine it could attract insects and fungi, [but] at the moment it is okay,” said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 57 mm fell last week, 17.8 mm above the average.
Average temperatures ranged from 26.5 to 30 degrees Celsius last week.
(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Louise Heavens)
