ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Hot weather and well below-average rains in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions could trim the size and quality of the upcoming mid-crop harvest, farmers said on Monday.
Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, is in its dry season, which runs from mid-November to March. The mid-crop runs from April to September.
Farmers said the October-to-March main crop had tailed off, with the sparse rainfall making beans too small.
In the centre-western region of Daloa and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, farmers said they did not expect good yields from the first three months of the mid-crop because of the dry weather.
“The trees do not have water and that could prevent lots of small pods from developing,” said Albert N’Zue, who farms in Daloa. The region saw 0.2 millimetre (mm) of rain last week, 12.2 mm below the five-year average.
In the western region of Soubre, the southern regions of Agboville and Divo, and the eastern region of Abengourou, farmers said the mid-crop would start slowly in April and May but pick up in June if rainfall was adequate in March.
“It is not yet a catastrophe. We hope we will get good rainfall next month so that things improve,” said Salame Kone, who farms in Soubre. The region received 2.3 mm of rain last week, 7.3 mm below average.
Weekly average temperature across the cocoa-growing regions ranged from 27.7 to 32.1 degrees Celsius.
(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Aaron Ross, Kirsten Donovan)
