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From: Scott Crawford <scott@aloha.net>
Subject: Taro production to new low
www.bizjournals.com/pacific/...ly47.html
Pacific Business News
February 3, 2006
Taro production to new low
Hawaii taro production is estimated at 4 million
pounds for 2005, the lowest total since the
government began gauging this in 1946.
The previous record low as 5 million pounds set
in 2003. The figure was down 19 percent from
2004, reported the National Agricultural
Statistics Service Hawaii Field Office.
Most Hawaii residents know about the apple snail,
which munches on taro and has devastated some
fields. But in 2005 another cause of trouble was
rain.
Taro needs a lot of water but even taro can get
too much, and did last winter when some fields
flooded. Initially it seemed that crop damage was
light, but the wet and cloudy weather did slow
crop development. Taro takes 11 to 15 months to
mature, so even though the weather soon became
more favorable, there simply were not enough
months in the calendar for taro to recover in
2005.
Most taro -- in 2005, all but 100,000 pounds --
is pounded into poi. The Hawaii Field Office
reported earlier this week that taro production
for poi was resurgent in December. But for the
full year it was down 24 percent from 2004. Taro
also is used to make kulolo, a Hawaiian desert
that also uses coconut, and taro chips, a tourist
favorite.
Taro production around the islands:
* Three-quarters of the state's
taro is grown on Kauai, though Kauai production
fell 26 percent in 2005 to 2.9 million pounds.
* Oahu and Maui County combined
produced total taro marketings of 850,000 pounds,
up 6 percent.
* The Big Island saw taro marketing
fall 50 percent to 250,000 pounds. Damage from
heavy rains in March 2005 in the Waipio Valley
area was mainly responsible for the drop in
marketings from the Big Island.
The overall farm price for poi and Chinese taro
remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive
year at 54 cents per pound, matching the record
high first set in 2002. Poi taro farm prices
averaged 54 cents per pound, unchanged from 2004.
Chinese taro farmers also received an average of
54 cents per pound in 2005, up fractionally from
2004. The farm value of all types of taro
marketings totaled $2.2 million, down 23 percent,
the lowest annual total since 1989's $2 million
in revenues.
© 2006 American City Business Journals Inc.
--
--
Please visit my weblog on Hawaiian Independence, updated regularly...
HawaiianKingdom.info
Subject: Taro production to new low
www.bizjournals.com/pacific/...ly47.html
Pacific Business News
February 3, 2006
Taro production to new low
Hawaii taro production is estimated at 4 million
pounds for 2005, the lowest total since the
government began gauging this in 1946.
The previous record low as 5 million pounds set
in 2003. The figure was down 19 percent from
2004, reported the National Agricultural
Statistics Service Hawaii Field Office.
Most Hawaii residents know about the apple snail,
which munches on taro and has devastated some
fields. But in 2005 another cause of trouble was
rain.
Taro needs a lot of water but even taro can get
too much, and did last winter when some fields
flooded. Initially it seemed that crop damage was
light, but the wet and cloudy weather did slow
crop development. Taro takes 11 to 15 months to
mature, so even though the weather soon became
more favorable, there simply were not enough
months in the calendar for taro to recover in
2005.
Most taro -- in 2005, all but 100,000 pounds --
is pounded into poi. The Hawaii Field Office
reported earlier this week that taro production
for poi was resurgent in December. But for the
full year it was down 24 percent from 2004. Taro
also is used to make kulolo, a Hawaiian desert
that also uses coconut, and taro chips, a tourist
favorite.
Taro production around the islands:
* Three-quarters of the state's
taro is grown on Kauai, though Kauai production
fell 26 percent in 2005 to 2.9 million pounds.
* Oahu and Maui County combined
produced total taro marketings of 850,000 pounds,
up 6 percent.
* The Big Island saw taro marketing
fall 50 percent to 250,000 pounds. Damage from
heavy rains in March 2005 in the Waipio Valley
area was mainly responsible for the drop in
marketings from the Big Island.
The overall farm price for poi and Chinese taro
remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive
year at 54 cents per pound, matching the record
high first set in 2002. Poi taro farm prices
averaged 54 cents per pound, unchanged from 2004.
Chinese taro farmers also received an average of
54 cents per pound in 2005, up fractionally from
2004. The farm value of all types of taro
marketings totaled $2.2 million, down 23 percent,
the lowest annual total since 1989's $2 million
in revenues.
© 2006 American City Business Journals Inc.
--
--
Please visit my weblog on Hawaiian Independence, updated regularly...
HawaiianKingdom.info
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