Light rain and hot weather in most of Ivory Coast's cocoa growing regions last week will strengthen the October to March main crop and help produce large, good quality beans through the beginning of next year, farmers said on Monday. The dry season has just begun in the world's top cocoa producer. Farmers are closely watching for the arrival of the dry harmattan wind, which sweeps down from the Sahara some time between December and March and can sharply reduce crop yields.
Farmers in inland regions said they were happy with drying conditions as most beans were of good quality and well dried. "The rain has stopped. It's very hot and we have the impression that the harmattan will not be late in coming," said Amadou Diallo, who farms in the southern region of Divo.
"The soil is still very moist which is helping small pods grow, but we need the harmattan to be mild," he said. In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said it had rained in some places and that the crop looked good for early next year. In the western region of Duekoue, farmers reported sun and one heavy rain last week.
"With the rain we've had in the last three weeks we think we'll have cocoa until March," said Amara Kone, who farms in Duekoue. In the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of national output, farmers reported hot weather and no rain. "We'll have no rest in December. The harvest will be very abundant because there are lots of pods that are almost ripe on the trees," said Albert N'Zue, who farms on the outskirts of the town of Daloa.