KAUA’I AND HAWAI’I BY THE NUMBERS Monthly taro harvesting for poi milling is down nearly 20 percent for the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from officials in the U.S.
KAUA’I AND HAWAI’I BY THE NUMBERS
- Monthly taro harvesting for poi milling is down nearly 20 percent for the first nine months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from officials in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and state Department of Agriculture.
This year’s taro harvest is down more than 28 percent compared to the five-year average of years from 2000 to 2004. For the first nine months of this year, 2,990,000 pounds of taro were harvested for poi, compared to 3,710,000 pounds last year, and an average of 4,186,000 pounds for the five years from 2000 to 2004. A combination of very dry summer weather, and periods of heavy rains, particularly in the Hanalei Valley area where most of the state’s taro for poi is grown, are blamed for the smaller harvest this year.
