Strong Harmattan worries Ivorian cocoa farmers

* Farmers concerned long Harmattan could hurt crops

* Dry seasonal wind to last until March

By Loucoumane Coulibaly

ABIDJAN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Dry Harmattan wind mixed with parched weather across Ivory Coast's cocoa regions could hamper development of the main crop in the world's top cocoa grower, farmers said on Monday.

Farmers said they were concerned by the particularly strong Harmattan wind, the dry west African trade wind which blows south from the Sahara desert to the Gulf of Guinea from December to March, because the scale could determine the size of the main crop.

Ivorian farmers, who are currently harvesting the country's main cocoa crop for the 2011/2012 season, need a lot of rainfall interspersed with sunny spells for the development of pods on trees and drying of the beans after harvest.

"For some days now, it has been very windy out here. It was particularly strong last week, so much so that we were afraid to go out to the farms," said Amara Kone, who farms on the outskirts of the western region of Duekoue.

"Farmers are worried. If it continues like this for another couple of weeks, not only would it hurt the quality, but it could also knock down many small pods from the trees, thus reducing the harvest," Kone said.

In the centre-western region of Daloa and in the western region of Bouafle, farmers said no rains were recorded last week and that the Harmattan, which is also blowing in their regions, would weigh on the main crop.