Rainfall recordings in Ivory Coast's main cocoa-growing areas for the first three weeks of February were well above last year's levels, analysts said on Monday, boosting hopes for a large mid crop in the top grower. Cocoa farmers have reported abundant rain over the last few weeks, saying it should lead to a healthy mid crop after a main crop that has so far disappointed due to a combination of poor weather conditions, disease and administrative chaos.
Cocoa arrivals have improved at the end of the October-March harvest but exporters estimated on Monday they reached around 794,000 tonnes by February 22, still far off the 978,549 tonnes reported in the same period of the 2008/09 season. "The rainfall levels since the beginning of this month are higher than they were last year, when it was low," he added.
Cocoa needs plenty of rain to help young pods develop and the current rain has meant for a strong finish to the main crop. But too much rain, as was the case ahead of this season, can damage cocoa and lead to the spread of disease like black pod. Analyst data seen by Reuters showed rainfall recordings for the first three weeks of February were above last year's levels in all key cocoa regions except Gagnoa, where rainfall is 50 percent down on last year.
The centre-western region Daloa, which produces a quarter of national output, received 105 millimetres of rain during the period compared to just 8 mm the year before. "The little pods are growing in good conditions and I think the trees can keep on (producing) until the end of March even if the rains stop as the soil is very moist," he added.
Sassandra, in the south, reported 22 mm compared with 7 mm last year, while the port town of San Pedro received 10 mm compared with 2 mm last year. Tabou, just to the west of Abidjan, reported 25 mm compared with just 1 mm last year. Farmers in the Soubre, to the west, were also optimistic. "We don't have any concerns about the rain. It is falling nicely," said farmer Salam Kone. "The pods are growing nicely and many are the size of my fist by now.
This year's mid crop will be better than last year's." Last year, Ivory Coast harvested about 315,00 tonnes of cocoa during the mid crop. This year, early estimates for the smaller of the two crops were around 200,000 tonnes but exporters now say it could be higher due to the weather. In the eastern region of Abengourou, near the border of world No 2 grower Ghana, farmers said plantations were full of small pods and flowers due to the rain.
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