Weather conditions last week in Ivory Coast's cocoa-growing regions were good for the development of pods, which will be ready for harvest through March, farmers and analysts said on Monday. Soil moisture was high thanks to frequent downpours mixing with sunshine in October, putting the crop in good stead as the world's top grower enters the dry season.
Farmers added that the main crop, now under way, would be bigger than last year's, with the bulk of the beans to be harvested in November and December. "The weather is good for the trees. We have not had this many beans on the trees in almost three years," said Lazare Ake, a farmer in the western Soubre region, which accounts for around a third of Ivorian output.
"The sun has not let us down. A bit of rain each week through this month will lead to an abundant and high-quality harvest all the way through March," he said. One analyst working for an industrial plantation reported some 11 mm of rain last week in Soubre. In the centre-west region of Daloa, which accounts for 358,000 tonnes of Ivory Coast's roughly 1.2 million tonne annual output, farmers reported three downpours mixed with sunny spells, which was paving the way to a healthy crop. "The main crop will be long. It won't slow down after January," said farmer Magloire Gnankan.
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