By Loucoumane Coulibaly ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast farmers were drying and preparing cocoa on Monday for sale when the 2014/15 season opens later this week, and most said weather conditions favoured a robust harvest for the forthcoming October-to-March main crop. The world's top cocoa producer was wrapping up a record 2013/14 harvest, and the government was due to name its new minimum farmer price on Wednesday, marking the start of the new season. Harvesting has already started in many areas, and farmers said it would pick up rapidly once the new price is known. They expect the price to be increased from 750 CFA francs ($1.45) per kilogramme this season. ICE December cocoa was trading at $3,314 on Monday after last week hitting $3,399, the highest since April 2011, due to worries that the Ebola outbreak could affect Ivory Coast. In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the cocoa belt, an analyst reported 64 millimetres of rainfall for the week, compared with none the previous week. "Up until now the weather has been good. We need lots of sunshine now. There's plenty of cocoa drying in the villages. In a week the farmers will start selling off a lot," said Lazare Ake, who farms in the outskirts of Soubre. In the western region of Duekoue, farmers said good weather had boosted production in the zone. "There will be many more beans for sale in October compared with last season during the same month," Duekoue farmer and cooperative manager Amara Kone said. "The growers have lots of well dried beans on hand that they'll sell at the season's start." The western regions of Gagnoa and Meagui and the southern regions of Agboville, Divo and Tiassale were all expecting strong harvests in the new season, farmers said. In the coastal regions of San Pedro and Sassandra, farmers said light rains were continuing. "We're starting to see a lot of cocoa in the bush. But it will be difficult to get it out quickly, because the rains are damaging the dirt tracks, which were already in bad condition," said farmer Labbe Zoungrana. Meanwhile, fungal black pod disease, which has already appeared in a number of areas, was rapidly gaining ground in the southern region of Aboisso. "Week to week the cocoa is turning black. We're starting to really worry because there is now so much of it," said Patrice Konan, who farms near Aboisso. The disease was also creating concerns for farmers in the western region of Daloa, responsible for around a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output. (1 US dollar = 516.8700 CFA franc) (1 US dollar = 0.6149 British pound)