Farmers in the heart of Ivory Coast's cocoa belt say they expect an abundant harvest in the new season, though production will not match the record 1.5 million tonnes of the season just ending. Farmers in Soubre and Daloa regions, which account for about half of the country's production, said the current state of their crops has led them to expect total output of 1.3 million tonnes, close to a finance ministry forecast obtained earlier this week by Reuters.
"I can say that I am happy with the crop so far; there are many pods on the trees. I already made a first harvest at the start of the month, which I have already sold," said Rene Kouassi Kouadio, who owns a 5-hectare farm in Opouyo, about 20 km (13 miles) outside the town of Soubre.
"We have a lot of cocoa in the new season. I don't know if it will be as much as the past season, but it will be good," Kouadio said on Thursday at his farm. The cocoa harvest for the 2011/2012 season has begun slightly ahead of its official October 3 start in Soubre, Meagui and San Pedro. Farmers in Daloa and Bouafle are still winding up this season's mid-crop harvest, extended by late rains. "Since late July we have not had heavy rains here. It only began raining heavily in mid-September - that is why the main harvest will be a little late, but we will have a lot of cocoa," said Blaise Konan, who owns about 4 hectares in a village near Daloa.
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