NEWS WATCH

"Taro gives ground to bok choy" New Zealand Herald, 05.04.2004, by RENEE KIRIONA [actually it is mainly European stall holders being replaced by Chinese at Otara in South Auckland; the market is still a great place to look for fresh taro from the Pacific Islands - PJM].

RESEARCH NOTES

Bill Bussell reports on taro research at Unitech, in Auckland.

Cho, John et al (2007) Hawaii Kalo, Past and Future, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii, Honolulu (a PDF on taro in Hawaii, a home of poi and many other good ideas about taro).

John Follett and others describe work on Japanese taro cultivars in New Zealand in publications listed by Crop & Food Research Institute (look for taro among broadsheets and publications in the "products" menu).

Ethnobotany Research and Applications, Vol. 2, 2004 carries an article by P. J. Matthews on "Genetic Diversity in Taro, and the Preservation of Culinary Knowledge".

Tony Moody (2000) reports on taro sales in Sydney, Australia, and mis-identifies the leaves of Xanthosoma sagittifolium as a Polynesian variety of taro (X. saggitifolium, or 'yautia' is a closely related plant, introduced into the Pacific in the 19th C, from South America).

A national hui for Maori farmers, growers and foresters was held in 2002.

Contact details

ENQUIRIES and COPYRIGHT: For enquiries about this website and taro, or offers of relevant information, please contact Dr Peter Matthews (info-at-taro.co.nz) (use @ for -at-).

The layout of this site, and all texts by Peter Matthews, are copyright of The Research Cooperative 2001-3 (all rights reserved). The copyright for original contributions by other authors is retained by each author concerned. Articles may be copied for personal use and reference.

TARO IMPORTS

Most taro eaten in New Zealand is imported from tropical to temperate regions of the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Large frozen corms from Thailand, small frozen corms from mainland China, taro flour from Taiwan, fresh large corms from the Pacific Islands, and fresh or processed leaves from the Pacific islands can all be seen in New Zealand markets. Pre-cooked taro from Tonga is frequently brought into New Zealand by people returning from their homeland.

A search of the Fiji Government Online website reveals many articles on taro, including information on exports to Australia and New Zealand.

Horticultural NZ

Tahuri Whenua, an incorporated society representing Maori interests in horticulture.

The International Society of Horticultural Science held a conference in Palmerston North in February, 2004. The conference has been published as: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Root and Tuber Crops 'Food Down Under', Massey University, Palmerston North (the Massey Univesity bookshop may have copies).

ISTRC 13th SYMPOSIUM

The International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC) 13th International Symposium was held in Arusha, Tanzania (Africa), 10th-14th Nov., 2003. The conference theme was "Tropical Root and Tuber Crops: Opportunities for poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods in the developing world.

THIRD TARO SYMPOSIUM

The Third Taro Symposium, Nadi, Fiji Islands, 21-23 May 2003, was organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the French agricultural research organisation CIRAD.

Title link (above) is fast loading, the Taro Symposium Homepage is rather slow.

The symposium included contributions from New Zealand.