Rains were mainly below average last week across Ivory Coast cocoa-growing regions, farmers said, calling for more moisture mid-crop quality.
Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, is in its annual rainy season, which officially runs from April to mid-November.
Farmers said weather not threatening trees bearing a mix of small, average and large pods, but more rain is needed.
Harvesting has started to pick up, with many pods expected to be reaped from May through July, farmers said locally.
In Daloa, Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, rainfall was below average, while heat helped beans dry after harvesting in recent days there.
Farmer Albert N’Zue near Daloa said it is very hot and trees need sufficient rain for rest of mid-crop season.
Daloa recorded 9.7 millimetres of rain last week, 11.9 millimetres below five-year average, highlighting drier-than-normal conditions in region overall situation.
In Soubre and Abengourou, as well as Agboville and Divo, farmers said steady rain is needed for larger, high-quality beans.
Kouassi Kouame near Soubre said plenty of steady rain is needed to grow large high-quality cocoa beans consistently over time.
Weekly average temperatures across Ivory Coast ranged between 29 and 33.2 degrees Celsius, according to farmers reports this past week.