Abundant rain and sunny spells continued for a third week in most of Ivory Coast's primary cocoa regions, boosting hopes for a healthy main crop amid concerns about the upcoming dry season, farmers said on Monday. Farmers in the world's top cocoa producer said they expected harvesting to pick up until at least late December as growers deliver large quantities of beans to sell.
But they were still hoping for more downpours this month to improve soil moisture levels and aid trees before the upcoming dry season, which runs from mid-November to March. In the centre-west region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's cocoa beans, farmers reported two heavy rains this week and sunshine.
Gervais Kobenan, who farms near Daloa, said plantations were expected to increase bean deliveries next week. But he said farmers had already started worrying about the dry season, saying, "If (the dry season) starts this month and it is strong in December with the Harmattan, we will not have enough cocoa after January." The Harmattan is a dusty dry wind that blows in from the Sahara, usually from December to March. When severe it can kill cocoa pods and sap soil moisture, reducing the size of beans.
In the southern region of Divo, farmers said it had rained a good deal this week. "I think these are the last major rains before the dry season. It is going to help the harvests in January and February," said Amadou Diallo, who farms near Divo. Similar growing conditions were reported in southern regions Aboisso, Agboville and Tiassale, in western regions Duekoue and Gagnoa, and in coastal regions San Pedro and Sassandra.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 92 millimetres (mm) of rains this week compared with about 59 mm in the previous period. Some farmers were concerned the downpours would make it harder to dry beans being harvested now. "The weather is good for pod development but we will worry about the drying of harvested beans if this sort of rain continues this week," said Salam Kone, who farms in the outskirts of Soubre.