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Precipitation monitoring over the Akim Oda district in Ghana

The Akim Oda district of Ghana has had an ideal evolution of precipitation this season.

Rains resumed early, with significant quantities already pouring in the first week of March. This accelerated the plants’ recovery from the main dry season.

Then, for most of the main wet season, it rained more than average and the trees could properly refurbish the canopy, set and feed new pods and accumulate enough water to comfortably survive the little dry season.

The latter has been extremely dry for a month (6 mm between mid-July and mid-August), which impinged on Black Pod diffusion, but ended earlier than usual, in the second half of August.

In hindsight, the little dry season did not challenge the cacao plants’ health and vigour.

Since the last week of August, the trees have continued to receive at least 25 mm/week in a period that, usually, sees half of such amounts. For this reason, trees are optimally watered and have accumulated enough water in the soil to withstand 10-12 days of complete dryness, which is seldom the case this early in the season.

Author

  • Charles Werner

    organisation:

    Climate42 brings you agro-climate analysis and scientific commentary on cocoa production in West Africa. Our services range from regular reports to customised analysis and onboarding courses

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