Ivory Coast rains ease, offering cocoa farmers a respite

Cocoa beans

Rain showers eased last week across most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions, improving conditions for the development of flowers that will become the beans of the next main crop harvest, farmers and analysts said on Monday.
The world's top cocoa grower is in the midst of its April-to-September mid-crop with harvesting expected to decline from the middle of this month. Focus is now turning to next season's harvest, which will be marketed from October.
ICE second-month cocoa futures edged down $3, or 0.1 percent, on Monday to trade at $3,087 per tonne. Liffe September cocoa traded down 3 pounds, or 0.2 percent, at 1,922 pounds a tonne, underpinned by firm cocoa butter prices.
Recent weeks have been marked by steady, heavy rainfall in Ivory Coast that has damaged roads and hindered the proper drying and preparation of beans.
"There will be fewer heavy showers on the coastal strip and in the forest areas until the end of the month," said an Abidjan-based agrometeorologist who asked not to be named.
In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 10 mm of rains, compared with 68 mm the previous week.
"The rains have reduced in intensity and there was sunshine over four days," said Salam Kone, who farms near Soubre.
"If the sunshine continues this week, the trees will have plenty of flowers from the end of the month and we'll see a good start to the main crop," he said.
In the southern region of Divo, farmers reported no rainfall during the week.
"There's been a lot of sunshine for the past three days. The farmers are starting to dry their beans well after the heavy rains of the previous weeks," said Jules Zadi, who farms near Divo.
"There's plenty of moisture in the soil to support the trees over more than a month. We just need lots of sun to avoid disease and encourage flowering," he said.
The centre-western region of Daloa, responsible for a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, also saw no rainfall during the week.
"The conditions are good and many flowers are appearing. If we continue to see lots of sunshine through August, the first cocoa of the main crop will be ready in mid-September," said farmer Attoungbre Kouame.
Good growing conditions were reported in the western regions of Gagnoa and Duekoue, in the eastern region of Abengourou and in the southern regions of Agboville and Tiassale.
In the coastal regions of San Pedro and Sassandra, where farmers have struggled to access their plantations due to flooding, no rainfall was reported.
"The water is going down. We're hoping that with the return of sunshine we'll be able to go back to our plantations towards the end of the week," said Tchorna Silue, who farms near San Pedro. "We worry there's been damage."
Similar conditions were reported in the southern region of Aboisso.