Abundant rainfall and sunshine across most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions last week were expected to contribute to healthy main-crop production, farmers said on Monday. The world's largest cocoa producer is in the midst of its smaller April-to-September mid-crop, and production is already outpacing last season. Last week, a finance ministry source said this year's crop was on track to at least match the record output of the 2013/14 season.
In the centre-western regions of Daloa, which produces around a quarter of Ivory Coast's cocoa but has struggled due to a lack of rainfall this season, farmers reported a heavy shower for the second consecutive week. "It's starting to improve. We're seeing a bit of green on many plantations," said Daloa farmer Antoine Konan. "If the rains continue two more weeks, we could expect many beans towards the end of the main crop."
Similar growing conditions were reported in the coastal region of San Pedro, which has also seen dry conditions for much of this season. Mid-crop harvesting was picking up in the western region of Duekoue, farmers said. In the western region of Soubre, the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 58.5 millimetres of rainfall, compared to none the previous week. Good growing conditions were also reported in the southern regions of Agboville, Divo and Tiassale and in the western regions of Gagnoa and Meagui.
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