Hot and dry weather last week in most of Ivory Coast’s main cocoa regions hurt the trees needed to ensure abundant beans of good quality during the last stage of the mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.
The mid-crop in Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, runs from April to September and farmers said they need abundant rain until June to improve bean size and quality from July to September.
In the eastern region of Abengourou, known for the quality of its beans, farmers said the past two weeks were hot and dry.
“The rain has stopped. We are really worried,” said cooperative manager N’Dri Kouao, who farms on the outskirts of Niable, near the border of Ghana. “If there are no rains this week the flowers will start to fall from the trees with this heat.”
Similar growing conditions were reported in the southern region of Divo.
“We are asking ourselves what is going to happen to the little pods on the trees given the lack of moisture,” said Amadou Diallo, who farms near Divo.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 4 millimetres of rain in the past week, compared with 24 mm the previous week.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, which produces a quarter of national output, farmers reported patchy rain.
“There was burning sun every day. If it doesn’t rain enough the light crop will be awful,” said farmer Raphael Kouadio.
Source: Reuters