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ABIDJAN, (Reuters) – Well above-average rains across Ivory Coast’s main cocoa regions last week are expected to bolster the next October-to-March main crop, with strong output likely in the first three months of the season, farmers said on Monday.

Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, is in its rainy season which runs officially from April to mid-November, when rains are abundant and often heavy.

Growers across key regions welcomed the downpours, saying they should help cocoa trees yield well and allow pods to ripe in good conditions.

If weekly rainfall remains strong through late October, most of the main crop will come off the trees between November and December, with good quality and large bean sizes, they said.

Harvesting is picking up, but larger volumes are expected to leave the bush from mid-October.

Some farmers in southern areas cautioned that more sunshine is needed to prevent mould on early-harvested beans, given inadequate storage conditions in the bush.

Farmers reported similar conditions in the centre-western region of Daloa and the central region of Bongouanou, where rainfall was also well above average and sunny spells were welcomed.

In the western region of Soubre, the southern regions of Agboville and Divo, and the eastern region of Abengourou, farmers said the outlook was promising but added that more sunshine would help the main crop mature well.

“The rainfall is fine. But we need more sun to improve the pod growth conditions,” said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre, where 30.2 mm fell last week, 11.9 mm above the five-year average.

Cooperative managers said many farmers were stockpiling beans while awaiting the new guaranteed farmgate price before selling. Farmers expect the price to be set well above the current 2,200 CFA francs per kg. The government is due to announce the new price in late September or early October.

The weekly average temperature ranged from 25 to 28.3 degrees Celsius.