When to plant Cocoa in Mpohor

Western, Ghana

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is a small evergreen tree of the hot, wet tropics.

Cocoa in Mpohor, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant (establish)	7 Mar 2027 – 5 Jul 2027 opens in 22 weeks	21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest	about 1.4 t/ha	about 1.9 t/ha
Bearing cycle	150–180 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle.
Work it takes	128–255 days per hectare, by hand

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 23 Jun 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Mpohor leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.

Planting after 5 Jul 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Mpohor

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	76%
The lie of the land	76%

For cocoa in Mpohor, the soil is the tightest of the three at 76%. This is the one you can actually move. Lime raises a sour soil, manure and compost lift what it holds, and both work within a season or two — money spent here changes the answer.

The 2026 season in Mpohor

When the rains are expected	January 2026 to January 2026
Rain in a typical year	About 1,548 mm
This season's rain	Leaning dry. Plant at the early end of the window and favour quicker, more drought-tolerant crops.
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +0.6 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supports	enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 30 September 2026

Frost and pest pressure hold back about 15% of yield here.

What cocoa needs to grow here

Soil it likes	well-drained sandy loam, loam or clay loam soil
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 6.0 and 7.0
Spacing	300 cm between rows, 300 cm between plants
Feed it most with	potassium

What it takes to grow cocoa in Mpohor

Planting material	About 1,100 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 56 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 20 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 105 kg per hectare
In the shops	A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.
Hand work	128–255 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a cocoa crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageableSoil pH below the crop's optimum

Grow Cocoa with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Mpohor as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Cocoa in nearby districts

How to grow Cocoa, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will cocoa grow well in Mpohor?

Mpohor rates as favourable for cocoa.

When should I plant cocoa in Mpohor?

Typically 7 Mar 2027 to 5 Jul 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Mpohor, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.