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Ghana's cocoa regulator warns of production drop amid heavy rains - REUTERS
ACCRA, July 15 (Reuters) - Ghana's cocoa regulator said on Tuesday that increased disease incidence caused by prolonged rainfall and not enough sunlight could lead to moderate production decline, after farmers called for state intervention to mitigate the impact of bad weather.
The West African country, the world's second-biggest cocoa producer, has seen output fall in previous seasons due to diseases, adverse weather conditions and rampant illegal gold mining, which destroys cocoa plantations and reduces yields.
An association of Ghanaian farmers warned last week that cooler temperatures, excessive rainfall and not enough sunlight had reduced yields and raised the risk of fungal diseases including black pod disease.
That in turn could blow a hole in farmers' incomes and cause long-term damage, it said in a statement.
"We visited these 72 cocoa growing districts and we witnessed fungi being spotted on the various cocoa trees due to the climate conditions," Nana Oboadie Bonsu, the farmers' association's president, told Reuters.
In response to the concerns raised by the association, the Ghanaian regulator COCOBOD said it had intensified mass spraying and disease control programmes.
