Traders are closely watching the Ivorian main crop, which officially opened on Wednesday under a major reform of the sector aimed at establishing a guaranteed farmgate price for growers to encourage reinvestment in ageing plantations.
Initial worries that more than a month of cool, cloudy weather could cut into output have receded as conditions improved in recent weeks. However, there are still fears that hitches in the application of the new reforms may affect supplies.
"The sunshine and rains are very good. The pods are growing and ripening," said Marcellin N'Da, who farms in the eastern region of Abengourou where an analyst reported 45 mm of rainfall, up from 17 mm the previous week.
"The sun will help us properly dry the beans," he said.
In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the Ivorian cocoa belt, an analyst reported 18 mm of rainfall punctuated by hot weather, compared with 13 mm the previous week.
"The soil moisture level is quite high. If it continues to rain until the end of this month, there won't be any worries for pod growth and bean quality until the end of the year," said the analyst, who asked not to be named.
Supplies had slowed to a trickle in the past weeks as farmers awaited the announcement of the new farmgate price, which was fixed at 725 CFA francs per kg, a nearly 9 percent increase on last year's average price.
But farmers said the harvesting had picked up following the announcement of the new season-long farmgate price.
"There are lots of ripe pods being harvested on the plantations. All the farmers want money. If the price is respected in the bush, they'll be happy and will work hard," said Koffi Kouame, who farms on the outskirts of Soubre.
In the southeastern region of Aboisso, an analyst reported 0.6 mm of rainfall compared with 92 mm the previous week.
"Most of the farmers are harvesting. We had lots of rain this month. With good sunshine, I think we'll have more cocoa than during last year's main crop," said local farmer Jean Tano.
In the western region of Daloa, responsible for a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, farmers reported two good rains mixed with sunny spells.
"This year bean quality will be good. We had enough rain in October and that's a good sign. The harvest will be long, because there are many small pods on the trees now," said Daloa farmer Laurent Kouakou.
Source: Reuters
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