Poor rains enough to support Ivory Coast's mid-crop, farmers say
ABIDJAN, March 17 (Reuters) - Moisture levels last week were sufficient to support the development of Ivory Coast's April-to-September cocoa mid-crop, despite below-average rainfall in most growing regions, farmers told Reuters on Monday.
The world's top producer of the essential chocolate ingredient is now in its November-to-March dry season when rains are typically poor and scarce.
Most cocoa farmers told Reuters that the October-to-March main crop had already tailed off.
While they said last week's precipitation was enough to aid pod development, farmers warned that hot temperatures meant abundant rains were needed in plantations from next week through late April to boost mid-crop production and ensure bean quality.
Growers in the central regions said temperatures were rising week after week and a continuing trend could weaken trees, putting young pods at risk if the rains do not improve.
The mid-crop marketing season officially opens early in April, but most farmers expect little cocoa will be available to harvest at that time.
"For the moment, it's okay. But if this intense heat continues and if it doesn't rain heavily, we'll have losses," said Frederic Essien, who farms in the central region of Bongouanou, where 8 mm of rain fell last week, 7.9 mm below the five-year average.
Farmers reported similar conditions in the west-central region of Daloa and the central region of Yamoussoukro.
Rainfall was above average in the western region of Soubre and the southern region of Divo, where farmers said conditions were setting the stage for a long and abundant mid-crop.
They reported an abundance of well-developed pods on plantations in the regions.
"The weather is good so far. Harvesting will start slowly next week," said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 12.6 mm of rain fell last week, 0.7 mm above the average.
Similar comments were reported in the southern region of Agboville and the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were below average.
The weekly average temperature across Ivory Coast last week ranged from 28.4 to 33.4 degrees Celsius.
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