Ivory Coast rains and sun strengthen cocoa main crop, farmers say

ABIDJAN, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Light, mostly below-average rains and sunny spells across most of Ivory Coast's cocoa regions last week are expected to boost the October-to-March main crop, which growers see remaining abundant at least through January, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season, which runs officially from April to mid-November, when rains are abundant and often heavy. Farmers across the cocoa regions said recent periods of sunshine would help dry freshly harvested beans and improve quality, while moisture levels were sufficient to boost the size of the main crop. They said if rains continue to be broken by sunny intervals through mid-November, the main crop should stay abundant and of good quality through January. They reported many large pods close to maturity, with harvesting set to ramp up from early November to January. Growers said abundant flowers and young pods, known as cherelles, point to a strong February harvest, provided November rains persist and the mid-November to March dry season is mild. "There are still many flowers and cherelles on the trees. We're lucky this year to have plenty of cocoa in February,” said Firmin Konan, who farms near the centre-western region of Daloa, where 25.7 mm fell last week, 1.1 mm above the five-year average. Similar comments were reported in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were below average last week and harvesting was picking up significantly. In the western region of Soubre, and in the southern regions of Agboville and Divo, where rains were below average, and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were above average, farmers said the sun is helping small pods develop well for next year's harvest. "The weather is good for fighting disease and for producing good quality beans,” said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 21 mm fell last week, 5.4 mm below the average. The weekly average temperature ranged from 26.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Ayen Deng Bior and Aurora Ellis)

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