Ivory Coast's cocoa crop healthy, but needs more sun, farmers say
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season which runs officially from April to mid-November.
Farmers report satisfactory pod development, with plenty of large, near-ripe pods on trees, and say the next main crop is progressing well, aided by light rains and good soil moisture.
Growers reported no crop damage and said they expect more sun with adequate early-September rainfall to improve the crop.
Harvesting has begun tentatively in some plantations they said, and supply should gradually pick up from September.
"Everything is fine for now. We need plenty of sunshine, but if it rains heavily in September, we'll have losses," said Ernest Alleba, who farms near the western region of Soubre, where 0.1 millimetres of rain fell last week, 13.2 mm below the five-year average.
Farmers said the crop was maturing well and expected abundant harvests from October in the southern region of Divo, where no rain fell last week, the southern region of Agboville, and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were both below average.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were well-below average, farmers said they were happy with the light rainfall, which was strengthening the crop, but an increase of sunshine would improve growing conditions.
"If the sun comes out well, the trees will produce well and the pods will form well," said Ghislain Aka, who farms near Daloa, where 3.3 mm fell last week, 19.5 mm below the five-year average.
The weekly average temperature ranged from 23.9 to 26.6 degrees Celsius.
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