Abridjan, June 15 - Unusually heavy rains in Ivory Coast's coastal and eastern cocoa-growing regions last week threaten the quality and size of the mid-crop while damage to roads has prevented some produce leaving plantations.
Farmers and exporters said on Monday the rains had been particularly heavy in the coastal regions of Sassandra, San Pedro, Tabou, Abidjan and the eastern region of Abengourou.
"It's been raining heavily for a week and there's not enough sun. It's difficult to get to the fields because the rivers have burst their banks," said Joseph Amani who farms near Abengourou.
"This rains need to stop, or else it will be dangerous for the cocoa because diseases could make a come back," he said.
The purchasing manager of one European exporter and grinder said the humid conditions could cause bean quality to fall in the coming weeks. He feared beans may rot in the bush with roads impassable and farmers unable to dry them properly.
"It's raining too heavily on the coastal cocoa zones. The roads have become impassable. We can't get cocoa out from the plantations," he said, asking not to be named.
"A lot of cocoa is going to rot because the farmers can't dry it and get it out. We're going to have quality problems in the coming weeks," he said.
He said that if the rains maintained their intensity until the end of June, black pod disease could make a return, meaning it would be difficult to reach a total mid-crop production of above 300,000 tonnes.
Ivory Coast's main crop has disappointed due to a combination of bad weather, disease and administrative chaos.
Estimates ahead of this year's mid-crop have been mixed, ranging from 200,000 to 350,000 tonnes, compared with 315,000 tonnes last year.
In the coastal regions of Sassandra, San Pedro and Tabou farmers said heavy rains had prevented buyers from making purchases since the start of the week.
"It's raining virtually every day in the bush, and heavily. We're no longer seeing buyers' trucks on some roads because they're in a bad state. The trucks can't get through," said Gerard Pale Sie, who farms near Sassandra.
"If the buyers can't come and get the beans, they'll spoil."
The weather was more favourable in the centre-western region of Daloa and in the western region of Soubre, where farmers said the rains were good for the development of the mid-crop.
"The rains are good here. We had 13 mm last week. That's a good amount for the trees," said an analyst working for an industrial plantation in Soubre, the heart of the cocoa belt.
Below is a table showing rainfall in mm during the first 10 days of June, according to analysts' data.
Region 2009 2008
Abidjan 220 162
Daloa 0 31
Gagnoa 30 36
San Pedro 182 145
Sassandra 126 102
Tabou 224 100
Yamoussoukro 33 70