Farmers reported Monday that heavy rain in most of Ivory Coast’s key cocoa districts swamped lowland fields last week, endangering the April-to-September mid-crop.
Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer.
Farmers in the south and west claimed two weeks of rain had damaged plantations, making it impossible to harvest beans.
Farmers worried that purchasers would refuse to buy beans in the following weeks since the weather was often cloudy, making drying beans difficult.
Heavy rainfall. Desire Mea, a farmer in western Soubre, said, “We now need enough sunshine because the plantations in the lowlands have been flooded.” Last week, 177.3 millimeters (6.98 inches) fell, 120.3 mm (4.74 inches) over the five-year normal.
Farmers in the southern region of Agboville, where 157.7 mm (6.21 inches) fell last week, 95.7 mm (3.77 inches) above the average, and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where 125.8 mm (4.95 inches) fell, 70.3 mm (2.77 inches) above the average, said they feared beans would rot in the bush due to poor drying conditions for two weeks.
Last week, Agboville’s southern region saw above-average rainfall. Daloa, Yamoussoukro, and Bongouanou farmers welcomed a drier spell to boost growth and drying conditions.
“The rains have slowed, and there’s enough sunshine. “This will help the cocoa,” said Daloa farmer Aman Koffi, where 26.8 mm (1.06 inches) fell last week, 3.6 mm (0.14 inch) below average.
Ivory Coast averaged 25.4 to 29.2 degrees Celsius (77.7 to 84.6 F) last week.