COMMODITY: Ivory Coast heavy rains damage cocoa mid-crop

Heavy rains and scant sunlight last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions led to flooding and soggy beans, harming the quality of the mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in the middle of its rainy season and frequent heavy downpours are expected through until at least July.
Farmers said the weather was not good for the last stage of the April-to-September mid-crop. Next month, their focus will shift to the impact of the weather on the next main crop.
In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said for the second consecutive week it had rained consistently all week, leaving little opportunity for the beans to dry.
"The cocoa is rotting in the bush. We are blocked inside as the roads are impassable and the plantations are inundated," said Lazare Ake, who farms on the outskirts of Soubre. "We will have lots of losses during the harvest," he said.
In the southern region of Aboisso, farmers reported excessive rainfall and said some pods were rotting on trees.
"We expected many beans during the mid-crop but rainfall and humidity is reducing the harvest," said Etienne Yao, who farms near Aboisso.
Similar growing conditions were reported in the southern regions of Agboville, Divo and Tiassale, in the western region of Duekoue, and in the coastal regions of San Pedro and Sassandra.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, accounting for the quarter of the national output, farmers also reported abundant rain.
"It is too wet in the bush and that can attract insects and diseases to the plantation," said Raphael Kouadio, who farms near Daloa. "After this month, farmers will begin preparing for the main crop," he added.
© Reuters News