ABIDJAN, June 22 (Reuters) – Above-average rains and overcast weather in most of Ivory Coast’s main cocoa-growing regions raised fears of flooding and disease that could affect the last stage of the March-to-August mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.
• The world’s top cocoa producer is in its rainy season, which typically runs from April to mid-November.
• Most farmers across the country said rains were regular and heavy last week. They feared that if this rain pattern continued, flooding and disease could prevent the mid-crop from finishing strongly in August.
• Farmers also said they would start following the development of the September-to-March main crop from July.
• They said significant volumes of beans were leaving the bush, but buyers were complaining about high moisture content resulting from the lack of sunshine.
• “If it keeps raining like this all week, the plantations may experience flooding,” said Kevin Kamena, who farms near the eastern region Abengourou, where 74.3 millimetres (mm) of rain fell last week, 11 mm above the five-year average.
• In the western region of Soubre, where rains were below average, and in the southern regions of Agboville and Divo, where rains were well above average, farmers said the overcast sky and heavy rains could create high humidity that could trigger disease and attract insects.
• In the west-central region of Daloa and the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were well above average, farmers said more sunny spells were needed to boost the last stage of the mid-crop.
• “There’s still a little cocoa left on the trees. It’s very overcast. Plantations need more sunshine,” said Albert N’Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 50.6 mm of rain fell last week, 20.2 mm above the five-year average.
• Weekly temperatures across Ivory Coast ranged between 26.1 and 29.7 degrees Celsius (79 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit).
(Reporting by Loucoumane CoulibalyEditing by Anait Miridzhanian and David Goodman)
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