Nigeria’s cocoa output seen rising less than expected

Nigeria, the world’s fourth-largest cocoa grower, probably will produce less than originally expected this year as rainfall harms yields in the South Eastern part of the country, the nation’s industry group said, reports Bloomberg.
Production will increase by a “small” amount, and won’t match the 10 percent gain forecast in January, Lagos-based Robo Adhuze, a spokesman for the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, said by phone on Tuesday. Output was an estimated 250,000 metric tons last year, he said. Ivory Coast is the biggest grower, followed by Ghana and Indonesia, according to the London-based International Cocoa Organisation.
The ICCO forecast a cocoa deficit of 115,000 tons in February. Excessive rain is cutting crop prospects in Nigeria, Abang Neji, a farmer and association board member, said on Wednesday in an interview from Ondo.
“The rains are becoming heavier in South East, with the risk of spreading blackpod,” Neji said, referring to a fungus which thrives in wet, humid conditions and rots cocoa pods. Output for the current crop is expected to be lower than initially forecast, he said.
Cocoa for July delivery rose as much as 0.5 percent to 1,922 pounds ($3,214) on NYSE Liffe in London, the highest since September 2011. It’s advanced 11 percent this year.
The government plans to begin distribution of fungicides next week to help farmers deal with the blackpod threat, Neji said. Nigeria’s recent measures of distributing fertilisers and early-maturing, high-yielding, disease-resistant beans led the country’s cocoa association earlier this year to expect a bigger crop.
In the South West Ondo State, which accounts for as much as 40 percent of Nigeria’s cocoa, “there are stable rains and sunshine,” and farmers are expected to harvest more than last year, Adhuze said.
“Output will be better this year than last in Ondo, but below the expectation for the whole country,” Adhuze said.
“Support from the government, good weather in the South West and improved earnings by farmers are helping,” Adhuze said.