Bio-security director Ngatoko Ta Ngatoko says taro from Samoa poses a huge risk for the Cook Islands’ taro crops, and to find it on the ship was ‘very alarming’.
He says Samoan taro could introduce leaf blight diseases to the Cook Islands endangering a staple crop which is grown throughout the country.
The disease is considered one of the worst in the world for taro, as it attacks the entire taro family including taro, kape and taro tarua.
