Wet weather in Ivory Coast could threaten cocoa crop size

Abundant rains combined with infrequent and short spells of sunshine in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa-growing regions created wet growing conditions last week that could dent the size of the April-to-September crop, farmers said on Monday. The marketing season for the mid-crop in the world's top cocoa grower opened on April 1 and harvesting is expected to start to decline from mid-July.
Farmers said frequent spells of sunshine spells would be needed in the next few weeks to ensure a healthy harvest. Wet weather has attracted insects to the plantations and some pods have been rotting on the trees of farms where there is insufficient place to store the beans.