Ghana Reaps a Record Main Cocoa Crop of 903,646 Metric Tons, Cocobod Says

Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, reaped a record 903,646 metric tons of the chocolate ingredient in its main growing season as good weather and better farming practices helped to boost output, according to the industry regulator.

The 33-week main-crop harvest, which started in October, was 54 percent higher than last year’s output, Noah Amenyah, spokesman for the Accra-based Ghana Cocoa Board, also known as Cocobod, said by phone today. It’s also the biggest in the West African nation’s history.

Ghanaian production was not boosted by smuggling of the beans from neighboring Ivory Coast, the world’s top grower of cocoa, Amenyah said. Shipments of Ivorian beans were largely halted for about three months earlier this year amid a violent struggle for power that followed the country’s November presidential election.

Cocobod is targeting production of between 80,000 tons and 100,000 tons in the 12-week light-crop season that starts on June 10, Amenyah said. The board is also aiming for annual production of 1 million tons by the 2012-13 harvest, he said.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-30/ghana-reaps-a-record-main-cocoa-crop-of-903-646-metric-tons-cocobod-says.html