Black pod disease due to weeks of heavy rain in Ivory Coast's western and south-western regions has damaged about a fifth of the cocoa crop, buyers who deliver to the largest bean processors said on Friday. About two thirds of cocoa in Ivory Coast, the world's top producer with over 1.5 million tonnes annually, comes from the affected regions, where about a third of the crop was affected, three buyers active in the region said.
Farmers are not allowed to sell beans touched by rot, which damages the quality if it does not destroy them. Black pod is a common blight in Ivory Coast that hits when moisture levels are high. The West African nation is in its rainy season and harvesting for the October to March main crop has begun. "Right now we think (the disease) affects around a third of the harvest in the west and southwest, but that could rise if the rain continues," said Diarrassouba Fousseni, a cocoa buyer near Duekoue.
Alfred Camara, a buyer in far-western town Grabo, gave the same estimate. Both deliver thousands of tonnes of beans a year from the region to top trading houses. The disease was evident on plantations visited by Reuters. Many green and yellow pods had turned black and others had patches of rot spreading up from their tips. "In the beginning of the month I saw only a few black pods on certain trees. But now you can spot it easily throughout the fields," said Adama Coulibaly, who owns nine hectares of cocoa in Grabo.
Farmers in Duekoue, Guiglo, Bangolo, Tai and Para, towns known for their production of good quality cocoa, had the same concerns. After praying for rain to boost their crop this season, they now say they need it to stop. Mathieu Konan, who has 11 hectares of cocoa near Duekoue, said half of his most recent harvest is rotten. Other farmers could not assess the full extent of the damage, but all said they had been affected. Buyer Fousseni said the beans that had not been touched by rot were still of good quality. "The farmers are complaining of rot and we have seen ourselves that the volumes are low," said Oumar Keita, a buyer in the region of Tai.