18 Nov 2009

Renewed bid to cultivate old kumara varieties

8:32 pm on 18 November 2009

There's a renewed effort to grow varieties of kumara that pre-date the Treaty of Waitangi.

The kumara were brought back from research facilities in Japan 20 years ago by the late Del Wihongi, but her daughter Hema Wihongi says initial efforts to cultivate them around the country had limited success.

Five of the varieties predate European contact, and the other four were introduced before 1840.

Ms Wihongi told Waatea News that people have become reliant on commercially produced vegetables, but that it's culturally important to keep the old varieties going, as worldwide traditional foods are becoming extinct.

She says the seed plants are going out to iwi involved in the WAI 262 fauna and flora claim who have developed expertise in growing traditional varieties.