Abundant rainfall in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions bodes well for the development of the upcoming mid-crop, farmers said on Monday. The world's top cocoa producer is emerging from a three-month dry season and entering the rainy season, which begins with regular downpours in March. Farmers said the bulk of harvesting for the April-to-September mid-crop would take place in May, but that the crop would only yield significant volumes of cocoa from June to August.
In the southern region of Divo, farmers said they expected the mid-crop to be as good as last year. "The pods are well-developed and we have not suffered any important losses," said Arsane Yoro, who farms near Divo, adding that the mid-crop would last if rainfall becomes regular. Data showed rainfall in Divo was at 14.2 mm last week, 2.1 mm above average. Good growing conditions were also reported in the southern regions of Agboville and Tiassale, and in the western regions of Duekoue, Man, and Soubre.
"If it rains every week, we will have many high-quality beans by May," said Lazare Ake, who farms near Soubre. Yet in the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said the damage caused by a prolonged period of heat and drought would delay mid-crop harvesting, despite good rainfall last week. "We fear beans will be small and of low quality during the first two months of the mid-crop," said Abel Konan, who farms near Daloa.
Delays to harvests are not unusual and they occurred in Daloa and in eastern parts of the country last season. Data collected by Reuters showed that rainfall in Daloa, which includes the region of Bouafle, was at 15.6 mm last week, 4.4 mm above average. Similar conditions were also reported in the eastern region of Abengourou and in the south eastern region of Aboisso.
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