The meteorologist, speaking by telephone from the provincial capital Buon Ma Thuot, said the dry season in Daklak should begin by November and bring excellent weather for drying coffee beans from the upcoming harvest. Traders were not immediately available to comment on what impact the heavy rains would have on coffee trees in the province. Vietnam is expecting a bumper robusta coffee crop this year, and harvesting will likely get under way next month and peak in November, this year. "The rains we are forecasting for September until late October will be unusually heavy for that time of the year.

There will, however, be interludes between days of heavy rain," the meteorologist said. Daklak, in Vietnam's central highlands, serves as a barometer for the country's annual coffee crops, meteorologist said last week.

This harvest it isexpected to yield 250,000-280,000 tonnes of beans compared with 200,000-220,000 tonnes last crop.

The whole country is expected to produce 400,000-450,000 tonnes, compared with 395,000 tonnes from the previous harvest. Harvesting should finish by January.

Many farmers still dry beans outdoors, and in the past lingering rains have increased the number of black and mouldy beans. Vietnam exports most of its robusta crop, making it among the biggest world shippers of the commodity.