New Zealand could be producing its own sugar, according to the chair of New Zealand's Tropical Fruit Growers' Association.
Hugh Rose has been growing trial plantings of sugarcane on his property near Whangarei and says the Far North is particularly well-suited to the crop.
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
"The sweetness I've tasted with mature sugar cane rivals anything I have tasted in Australia. It might take six months longer to grow but it's not a great deal longer. It grows to the same size, same shape."
Hugh says sugarcane is a very easy plant to propagate and harvest.
"I'm hoping someone, somewhere will put in a couple of hectares.
"It could be just a boutique market. It could be just for the coffee houses of Auckland, who knows? Someone's got to do it."
