ABIDJAN: Abundant rain and sunny spells in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions will improve the yield of the cocoa main crop, farmers said on Monday, but some feared the moisture would bring disease.
The main harvest season in the world's top cocoa producer is due to run from October to March. Farmers said there were many flowers and pods on the trees, which bodes well for the main crop.
If the right mix of rain and sun continues through September, the beans will be of good quality and the harvest will extend at least until January, farmers said, but it is too soon to predict beyond then.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 37 millimetres of rain last week, compared with 4 mm the previous week. "We are going to start harvesting gradually before the end of the month because there are a lot of nearly ripe pods on the trees," said Amara Kone, who farms in the western region of Duekoue.
"But we have to look out for brown rot," he added. "If it continues to rain like this through the end of the month brown rot will appear in October and destroy the pods." Good growing conditions were also reported in the southern regions of Aboisso, Agboville, Divo and Tiassale, in western region Gagnoa and in coastal region Sassandra.
"We think we will have more beans than last year for the main crop because there are many fruits on the trees," said Raphael Kouadio, who farms near the centre-western region of Daloa. "There will be lots to harvest between November and January if the weather stays so good," Kouadio said.
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