Ivory Coast's rains concerns mixed for cocoa crop

Abundant and regular rains last week in Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions raised concerns of crop damage, although conditions were good for the development of the mid-crop elsewhere, farmers said on Monday. The marketing season for the April-to-September mid-crop officially opened on April 1 and harvesting is accelerating rapidly.
Farmers in most regions said the weather conditions should allow strong output into July. In the western region of Duekoue, farmers said they were concerned about crop damage as it had rained almost the entire week, leading to flooding in some areas. "The rain has come down hard. There was flooding in some parts and some houses collapsed," said farmer and co-operative manager Amara Kone. "If it continues again this week, we fear that the small pods will fall from the trees reducing the harvest," said Kone.
In the south-eastern region of Aboisso, farmers reported several spells of abundant rainfall that had interfered with the drying process. "It is difficult to try to conserve the product in the bush as it's so often shady," said farmer Etienne Yao. Growing conditions were different in the western region of Soubre, in the heart of Ivory Coast's cocoa belt, where farmers reported a mixture of rain and sun.
"There is a lot of sun. This has helped the cocoa trees," said farmer Koffi Kouame, who farms in the outskirts of Soubre. He added that he had harvested 800 kilogrammes last week compared with less than half of that the previous season. In the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said they were expecting a bigger mid-crop compared with last year.
In the coastal region of San Pedro, farmers reported one abundant spell of rain mixed with hot weather. "The plantations were very moist. The strong heat is now improving cocoa conditions," said Tchorna Silue, who farms near San Pedro. Good growing conditions were also reported in the southern regions of Agboville, Divo and Tiassale, and in the western regions of Gagnoa and Meagui.