A top official said Tuesday that Cameroon's 2009-10 cocoa harvest yielded volumes similar to last year's, though falling short of initial forecasts for an increase.

The central African state is due to release official statistics some time next week for its 2009-10 season, which ended in July. It produced about 205,000 tonnes in the 2008-09 season.

"From the way things look, I think production for the 2009-10 season will either be the same as the previous season or there will be a slight drop," said Apollinaire Ngwe, president of the Coffee and Cocoa Interprofessional Board.

He declined to give a figure, saying officials were still compiling statistics ahead of the release.

Cameroon's agricultural marketing body, the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, forecast in March that the 2009-10 crop would hit a record over last season's output.

The most recent official figures showed Cameroon's cocoa exports down about 4 percent by the end of June versus the same period of the previous season.

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