Taro Plantation

Taro grows in terraced plantations in the Tupapa Valley in Rarotonga.  The terracing and irrigation here was carefully planned and must have taken serious work to set up.  This construction predates European contact.

There is less area under cultivation than in the past, as the population of the Cook Islands is declining.  There is little market for taro export, so as domestic demand shrinks, the harder-to-reach terraces are abandoned.