IVORY COAST WEATHER NO PROBLEM FOR 1986/87 CROPS
Ivory Coast rainfall this season has
been less than in previous years, but 1986/87 cocoa and coffee
production has not suffered, the official Ivorian daily
Fraternite Matin reported.
    The newspaper did not speculate on whether recent dry
conditions seriously threatened the main 1987/88 cocoa crop.
Trade sources said the weather up to now could be irrelevant if
there is good rainfall in coming weeks.
    Precipitation during the present campaign has been lowest
in northern savannah regions, where the cotton crop has
especially benefitted from the dry weather, Fraternite Matin
said.
    Agriculture Minister Denis Bra Kanon said earlier this
month 1986/87 cotton output would be a record 213,506 tonnes,
compared with 190,000 tonnes in 1985/86.
    Fraternite Matin said the mainstays of Ivorian agriculture
had been little affected by the dry weather. Coffee does not
need very much water to survive and only old cocoa plants have
been affected in some regions, it added.
    London-based dealer Gill and Duffus recently forecast
1986/87 Ivory Coast cocoa output at a record 590,000 tonnes,
which compares with 585,000 estimated for 1985/86. It described
early development of the new main crop as patchy.
    The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) earlier this year
forecast a drop in 1986/87 coffee production in the Ivory Coast
due to drought in the western part of the country. It estimated
the crop at 3.84 mln bags compared with the previous year's
4.33 mln bag harvest.
    Ivorian officials have only described this year's coffee
crop as "normal."
 REUTER
