The Sekyere Kumawu district of Ghana experienced warmer than usual temperatures in July, including during a large part of this year’s little dry season. The low rainfall in much of July required plants to draw on soil water resources, and the higher daytime temperatures led to greater consumption of water reserves due to higher tree transpiration rates. Fortunately, this drought period combined with the high temperatures was short, and the ample amounts of water stored in the soil prevented the trees from being negatively affected.
Since August, the average daily temperatures have aligned with the average, even becoming slightly below-average in September. The slight cool anomaly was mainly due to the daytime temperatures, while nighttime temperatures have stayed close to the norm. In practice, this means that the speed of pod maturation is in line with the norm, but has required less transpiration to be sustained.
In conclusion, trees in the Sekyere Kumawu district of Ghana are managing to achieve high water use efficiency this season, while maintaining a very good maturation rate. Both these two elements are good omens for a smooth continuation of the development of the first half of the main crop.
