Ivory Coast Rain Fuels Hopes for Strong Cocoa Main Crop
Rain mixed with sunny spells last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions helped the development of plentiful small pods, suggesting a strong start to the next main crop as the mid-crop tails off, farmers said on Monday. The mid-crop opened on April 1 in the world's top cocoa grower and harvesting traditionally starts to decline from mid-July. The main crop of the 2014-2015 season will begin in October and runs until March. With flowers already proliferating on plantations, farmers said they now were looking for adequate rainfall mixed with sunny spells to allow the development of many of these buds into small pods to boost the upcoming main crop.
Abundant Rains, Sun Seen Boosting Ivorian Cocoa Crop
Abundant rainfall and sunny spells last week in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing regions are set to improve growing conditions to ensure a strong finish of the April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said on Monday. The marketing season for the mid-crop officially opened on April 1 and harvesting is picking up rapidly. Farmers in most regions said the weather conditions should allow for robust output through to at least July. In the centre-western region of Daloa, producing a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers said that the good weather conditions had helped produce large beans. "There's a lot of sunshine. That will avoid problems and improve the quality," said farmer Desire M'Bra, who farms near Daloa.
