ABIDJAN: Heavy rain last week in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions will boost the main harvest that runs from October to March if plenty of sunshine follows, farmers said on Monday.
Most farmers interviewed in the world's top cocoa producer said trees held a healthy number of pods of different sizes and that they would start harvesting for the October-to-March crop this week, although deliveries would be small until mid-October.
They also said that, while the soil moisture is good, sunny spells were needed to dry the first harvested beans and stave off rot.
"The rain continues, which is good for the cocoa in November and December," said Koffi Kouame, who farms in the Soubre region. "We need more sun so that the first beans are a good quality, or we could have a lot of rejects," he said.
In the past week rainfall in the central-western Daloa region including Bouafle reached 42.4 millimeters, or 11.8 mm above average, according to data collected by Reuters.
In the Soubre region including San Pedro and Sassandra, rainfall hit 20.9 mm, or 2.5 mm above average, and in the western region of Man it was at 96.8 mm, 59.5 mm above average.
In the western region of Duekoue, farmers reported heavy rainfall.
Forecast average temperatures ranged from 24.9 to 25.7 degrees, lower than the week before.
In central-western Daloa, which produces about a quarter of national output, farmers reported good rainfall but also the spread of black pod disease. The disease was also reported in the southern region of Divo, where farmers said they were treating their crops.
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