Ivory Coast farmers hope for more rain to boost cocoa harvest

ABIDJAN, April 20 (Reuters) – Rains were mainly below average last week in most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions and farmers said on Monday that more moisture was needed to boost ​the quality of beans for the March-to-August mid-crop.

Ivory Coast, the ‌world’s top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season, which runs officially from April to mid-November.

Farmers that Reuters spoke to around the country said the weather wasn’t putting at risk trees bearing a good mix of small, average and big pods. ‌However, ​more rainfall was needed to boost the mid-crop.

Farmers ⁠said they were so ⁠far content with conditions and added that harvesting had started to pick up. Many pods would be reaped from cocoa trees between May and July, they said.

In the west-central region of Daloa and ​in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were below average last week. However, farmers, said the heat was helping ⁠beans that had already been harvested to ⁠dry.

Farmers also said they were expecting more precipitation in ​coming weeks because the sky was often cloudy.

“It’s very hot. The beans ​are well dried, but the trees need enough rain for ‌the rest of the mid-crop season,” said Albert N’Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 9.7 millimetres (mm) of rain fell last week, 11.9 mm below the five-year average.

In the western region of Soubre and in the eastern ⁠region of Abengourou, where rains were above average, and in the southern regions of Agboville and Divo, where rains were below average, farmers said regular ⁠and abundant rains ‌were needed to improve the quality and the size ⁠of beans growing inside cocoa pods that will ​be harvested ‌in coming weeks.

“We need plenty of steady rain ​to grow ⁠large, high-quality beans,” said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 28.6 mm of rain fell last week, 6.2 mm above the five-year average.

Weekly average temperatures across Ivory Coast last week ranged from 29 to 33.2 degrees Celsius (84 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit).

(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian ​and Susan Fenton)