In most of Ivory Coast’s cocoa-producing regions, farmers are preparing for the main harvest from October to March, which will require a good combination of sunshine and rainfall starting next month.
The world’s largest cocoa producer is in the middle of the rainy season, which lasts from April to mid-November. Rain last week was largely below average, but farmers said it was enough to help the final stage of the April-September intermediate harvest.
Farmers said the level of sunshine would be a key factor for the main crop as it could determine the size of the first phase which lasts from October to December.
They indicated that the supply of bush beans would be limited in July but could be significant from mid-August.
“The weather is good for the cocoa trees and the pods on the trees. We will have more bush beans from mid-August,” said Julien Anda, who farms near the southern region of Agboville, where 79.3 millimeters (mm) of rain fell last week, 18.2 mm more than the five-year average.
Similar comments were made by farmers in the western region of Soubre, the heart of the cocoa belt, where rains were above average last week, the southern region of Divo and the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were slightly below average.
These farmers also said that the quality of beans would improve significantly from August onwards.
In the west-central region of Daloa and the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains have been below average, farmers said they would begin preparing their plantations for the main harvest next week. , because the intermediate harvest was fading.
“Flowering for the next main crop has already started in some plantations. Plantations will need to be cleaned and pesticides applied over the next few days,” said Albert NZue, who farms near Daloa, where 21.5mm is fell last week, which is 8.6 mm less than average.
The weekly average temperature in Côte d’Ivoire ranged from 25 to 29.1 degrees Celsius. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian and Mark Potter)
