Poor distribution of pesticides has threatened cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast and may reduce output in the 2009 season.

And coordinated programmes to treat cocoa trees against the disease have resumed after a two-year halt, but farmers and experts said coverage this year was limited to just 30 percent of their requirements around Daloa in the centre-west due to lack of funds.

Fungicides and pesticides to control diseases such as black pod and swollen shoot are meant to be distributed by the Fund for the Development and Promotion of Coffee-Cocoa Activity (FDPCC), which helps farmers in the world's top cocoa production.

A farmer, Denis Djedje recently told Reuters that "We can't achieve good production with that, even though we all chip in," he said at his farm 20 km (13 miles) from Daloa.

The FDPCC is a union funded through a 25 CFA franc ($0.056) levy on each kilogram of cocoa sold and aims to improve production as well as working conditions in the cocoa industry. During a visit to farms around Daloa, farmers told a Reuter's reporter that the distribution of pesticides covered just 30 percent of their needs. Bunches of green pods were visible on trees along with flowers and buds.

But, from the trees shown to Reuters by farmers, volumes appeared to be roughly half the amounts that were seen in the record seasons of 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.

"This year's production might be good, but if we had treated our fields when we should have done in June and July, we might be having a greater production," said Julien Dali, a grower at Ouragahio, about 25 km (16 miles) from the town of Gagnoa farmers in the Sinfra area about swollen shoot while elsewhere black pod has been a problem.

Ivory Coast is emerging from a civil war sparked by a failed 2002 coup against President Laurent Gbagbo. The worst fighting had ended in the country, but the country remained split for years into a rebel-held north and government-controlled south.

Although the cocoa industry was not greatly affected, insecurity and informal taxation by armed men on all sides drove costs up and undermined the confidence of farmers to expand. A crack-down on graft has also created uncertainty in the cocoa sector after the detentions on corruption charges of several high-ranking industry officials.

"It may be true that we have slightly lower volumes at the beginning of the 2008/09 season, at least over the first three or four weeks, but I think things will sort themselves out," said the exporter, who is based in Daloa.

But he did share the farmers' concerns about the emergence of diseases that were not previously seen in the area. "In the long-term, we need to find a solution to the lack of pesticides, especially with the increasing strength of the diseases cocoa is facing, otherwise, if nothing is done, we risk having some difficult seasons if nothing is done," he said.