Douala, Aug 27 - Cameroon's 2009/10 cocoa exports and grindings should rise 5-10 percent after figures for the 2008/09 season totalled 205,032 tonnes, up 8 percent on the previous year, the managing director of the cocoa board said.
The 2008/09 crop was the best since the world's No. 5 producer liberalised the cocoa sector in the early 1990s and output will rise due to assistance and training for farmers, Michael Ndoping told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday.
This year's production has already surpassed the 200,000 tonne target previously set for 2010. Cameroon aims to raise output to around 300,000 tonnes within five years.
"During the year, commercialised cocoa stood at 205,032 tonnes from a total production estimated at 21O,605 tonnes, representing an increase of 17,677 tonnes or 8 percent," Ndoping told Reuters after the 2008/09 season formally closed.
Ndoping attributed the rise to the provision of hybrid high-yielding seedlings, subsidised pesticides and higher global cocoa prices leading to higher farmgate prices in Cameroon and more farmers growing the crop.
Average farmgate prices in Cameroon have risen from 750 CFA francs ($1.63) per kg in 2007 to 1095 francs in 2008/09, he said.
"I foresee commercialised cocoa production growing by 5-10 percent in 2009/10 - even much more in the coming years and Cameroon soon regaining its position as the fourth biggest world producer," he added.
London December cocoa <LCCZ9> was up 12 pounds at 1,914 at 1115 GMT.
Top producer Ivory Coast is battling to maintain its output as poor weather, administrative chaos and high taxation plagued the 2008/09 crop, pushing some farmers away from the previously lucrative crop. ($1=460.5 Cfa Francs)