Weather bodes well for Ivory Coast cocoa main crop

Light rain and mild Harmattan winds in top cocoa grower Ivory Coast last week bode well for the final stage of the main crop harvest, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast's cocoa season started on October 1 and the bulk of crops will have been harvested by the end of January. Farmers said they are now hoping good soil moisture will boost the last months of harvest in February and March.
"There are many trucks driving around the villages. All the farmers are harvesting intensely," said Lazare Ake, who farms in the outskirts of the western region of Soubre, the heart of the cocoa belt. Farmers were encouraged by rainfall last week during the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March.
"We have had two spells of rain, so there will not be any brutal interruption to the harvest until March," said Ake. Data collected by Reuters showed rainfall last week in the Soubre region, which includes the cities of Sassandra and San Pedro, was at 10.7 millimetres, 1.1 mm above average. In the southern Divo region, farmers said they expected large cocoa beans in the new year as weather conditions had been favourable.
"If we have good rainfall before the end of the year, and if the Harmattan is not too strong, we will have big beans in February and March," said Amadou Diallo, who farms near Divo. Harmattan winds carry sand from the Sahara, which can damage pods and reduce the size of cocoa beans by sapping soil moisture. Data collected by Reuters showed rainfall in Divo was at 8.8 mm last year, 2.2 mm above average for this time of year.
But in the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of national output, farmers said more rain is needed to ensure the quality of beans. "The harvest is going well, but we still need rain for the quality of beans to be good from February," said Raphael Kouadio, who farms near Daloa. Data collected by Reuters showed rainfall in Daloa last week was at 1.5 millimetres, 2.2 mm below average. Rainfall levels in the southern region of Agboville and the eastern region of Aboisso were also below average, by 1.8 mm and 1.4 mm respectively.