Farmers in most of Côte d'Ivoire's main cocoa regions are preparing for the start of the October-to-March main crop, which will require a good mix of sun and rainfall from next month.
The world's top cocoa producer is in its rainy season, which runs from April to mid-November.
Last week, rains were mostly below average but farmers said it was enough to help the last stage of the April-to-September mid-crop.
Farmers said the level of sunshine would be a key factor for the main crop as it could determine the size of the first stage that lasts from October to December.
Quality of beans
They said supply of beans from the bush would be tight in July but could be significant from mid-August.
"The weather is good for cocoa trees and pods on the trees. We will have more beans from the bush from mid-August," said Julien Anda, who farms near the southern region of Agboville, where 79.3 millimetres (mm) of rain fell last week, 18.2 mm above the five-year average.
Similar comments were made by farmers in the western region of Soubre, the heart of the cocoa belt, where rains were above average last week, in the southern region of Divo and in the eastern region of Abengourou, where rains were slightly below average.
Those farmers also said the quality of beans would improve sharply from August.
Weekly average temperature
In the west-central region of Daloa, and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rains were below average, farmers said next week they would start to prepare their plantations for the main crop as the mid-crop was tailing off.
"Flowering for the next main crop has already begun in some plantations. Plantations will have to be cleaned and pesticides applied over the next few days," said Albert N'Zue, who farms near Daloa, where 21.5 mm fell last week, 8.6 mm below average.
The weekly average temperature across Côte d'Ivoire ranged from 25 to 29.1 degrees Celsius.
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