Photo: RNZ / Alison Ballance
A Northland kumara grower says good weather over the last few weeks is providing a sunny outlook for crop yields, after last year's near washout.
Last year, three months of heavy rain, followed by the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, nearly wiped out crops which were ready to be harvested in the Kaipara District in Northland.
Kaipara Kumara managing director Anthony Blundell told Nine to Noon some 65 percent of the crop was lost.
This year they had managed to plant nearly a full crop again, and were expecting a good yield.
But Blundell said crop numbers may still be slightly down on 2022.
"With the great weather we've had over the past four or five weeks, that's giving us some good optimism for reasonable yields" - Anthony Blundell
He said the Kaipara District grows about 95 percent of the country's kumara.
Stats NZ's Food Price Index showed on average kumara were around $4.37 a kilo in January 2023. The average price then steadily increased up to $12.98 in September, and hit its highest average price for the year in December at $13.53 a kilo.