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Story: Market gardens and production nurseries

Common varieties of kūmara

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Common varieties of kūmara

The most common variety of kūmara (sweet potato) grown in New Zealand is Owairaka Red (centre), a local cultivar derived from an early European introduction, and first commercially grown in 1954. The orange-skinned variety is Beauregard, a United States cultivar introduced in 1993. The cream-skinned variety is Toka Toka Gold, another New Zealand cultivar, first grown commercially in 1972.

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How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Market gardens and production nurseries – Other outdoor crops, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/20014/common-varieties-of-kumara (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 1 March 2009.