For Ghana cocoa, main worry is disease not flood
OSEIKOKOKROM, Ghana (Reuters) - Akwia Manu slips, slides and wades through mud and water to get to her cocoa farm.
The light rain falling in Ghana's main cocoa-growing region is far less destructive than the devastating floods which have washed away entire crops in the north, but it could still threaten the upcoming harvest with disease.
The trees on Manu's farm are covered in green and yellowing pods but also sprinkled with black ones -- a sign of the fungal infection black pod that thrives in rainy weather.
Farmers in the world's no. 2 cocoa grower fear the disease could take the shine off what could otherwise be an improved crop over last season's disappointing output.
"This September, there has been a lot of rain," said Manu, whose farm is in Oseikokrom in the Ashanti region, one of the former British colony's biggest cocoa-growing areas.
Manu expects to harvest five bags from her five acres in the main crop -- due to open in the coming weeks -- more than last year's harvest of three bags but less than she would have harvested if the sun had shone this month.
Massive floods in northern Ghana have driven more than 300,000 people from their homes, destroying buildings and washing away crops and livestock.
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