Dry, windy weather hit Ivorian cocoa crop

Dry and windy weather continued last week in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions, reinforcing expectations of a weak tail-end of the main crop and a soft start to the mid-crop, farmers said on Monday. Cocoa arrivals to the top grower nation's two ports have already started slowing down, according to exporters, with cumulative figures since the start of the season in October seen 3.5 percent below a year ago.
"There is a strong harmattan wind. It isn't good for the cocoa," said Denis Kablan, who farms near the eastern region of Abengourou. "The farmers are worried about the next two months because there are not enough flowers or small pods on the trees compared with last year. And those that are already on the trees will have trouble growing."
The harmattan is a dry wind which sweeps down from the Sahara desert between December and March, encompassing the last four months of the six-month main crop period. When it is strong it can dry up soil moisture and damage trees. Ivory Coast's mid-crop, which typically yields half the output of the main crop, starts in April.
In the western region of Gagnoa, farmers said it did not rain last week and cocoa trees were suffering as a consequence of the drought. Farmers said they were not expecting enough beans to supply demand in the next few weeks. "It has not rained. There's been harmattan," said Fernand Zadi who farms near Gagnoa. "Cocoa will be scarce in the coming weeks because many trees have lost their leaves and others have only dried out leaves," he said.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, producing a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers reported the lack of rainfall amid a strong harmattan wind. "The trees are suffering. There's no water and with this harmattan blowing we know there will be very little cocoa from the end of this month," said farmer Abel Konan. "If it does not rain in the next two weeks, the mid-crop from April will be poor because the trees will be week," he said.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers told the same story. "We don't have enough flowers on the trees compared to last year because we've had no rain for a long time. It is a sure sign the cocoa will be scarce in the coming months."