Favorable weather and higher prices helped improve business for Hawai'i taro farmers last year, according to the local field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The agency reported that Hawai'i farmers produced 4.4 million pounds of taro last year, up 10 percent from 4 million pounds the year before.

A 5 percent increase in the average price to 62 cents per pound combined with the higher production to result in a total crop value of $2.73 million, up 16 percent from $2.36 million in 2007.

Last year there were 105 taro farms in the state, unchanged from a year earlier. Area farmed was up by 10 acres to 390 acres. The amount of taro going to make poi last year was 4.3 million pounds, up from 3.9 million pounds a year earlier but below the five-year average of 4.4 million pounds.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service said apple snails and taro pocket rot disease continue to produce losses for farmers.

Kaua'i remained where most Hawai'i taro is grown, representing 3.4 million pounds, or 78 percent of total production. Kaua'i's taro production was up 22 percent last year over 2007.