Lack of rain and heat worry cocoa producers in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Farmers in most cocoa-growing regions of Ivory Coast said on Monday they were worried about a lack of adequate rain and hot weather, which could weigh on the development of the main October-March crop. The world’s top cocoa producer is in its dry season, which runs from mid-November to March, when rains are scarce. Farmers in almost all regions except the western Soubre region, where rainfall was well above average, and Abgoville in the south, where rainfall was slightly below average, said the weather could harm the small pods that will be harvested in February and March. Farmers in the central regions said the quality of beans would be poor from February onwards. They added that the strength of the dry Harmattan wind, which usually blows from the Sahara Desert between December and March, had varied over the past week, sometimes strong and sometimes gentle. They added that the wind, which can dry out the soil and damage cocoa pods, making them smaller, ...