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A bundle of dried yaqona (kava) roots in Fiji
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Yaqona (kava) planner

For yaqona growers in Fiji. Enter your block and planting date to see how many mounds, cuttings and bags of fertiliser you need, when to side-dress and harvest, and roughly how much dried kava your crop could give.

Your block

1 acre is about 0.4 ha.

Best: August to October.

The Ministry leaflet uses 2 m × 2 m (2,500 mounds a hectare) and 3 to 5 cuttings per mound.

Your harvest - your own numbers

The starting number is only an example. Use what your own mounds or your neighbours' have given.

The price your buyer or market is paying now. Leave at 0 to skip the value.

Your plan

1,250mounds
5,000cuttings
1,042–1,563 kgdried kava (estimate)

Good timing: Oct 2026 is in the best planting window (August to October).

NPK 13:13:21 at planting
37.5 kg
Urea at 4 months
37.5 kg
Green kava at harvest
6,250 kg
Dried kava (4–6 kg green makes 1 kg dried)
1,042–1,563 kg
Value of the dried kava
Add your price

Your dates

  1. Plant 5,000 clean cuttings in 1,250 mounds, with 37.5 kg NPK 13:13:21 (30 g per mound) mixed into the soil.
  2. Side-dress 37.5 kg urea (30 g per mound), four months after planting.
  3. Earliest harvest: 3 years after planting.
  4. Usual latest harvest: 4 years after planting (plants can stay in the ground longer).
Link to this plan

Growing yaqona well

  • Start clean: kava die-back disease (spread by cucumber mosaic virus) is the main threat. Plant only healthy stem cuttings from clean plants, and keep host weeds and crops away from the block.
  • Feed it: test the soil first if you can. The leaflet's rates are NPK 13:13:21 at 30 g a mound when planting, then urea at 30 g a mound four months later.
  • Be patient: harvest after 3 to 4 years; plants can be left in the field for up to 10. Rose beetles feed on the leaves at night, so check with a torch.

Fiji's noble varieties

The Ministry lists 13 Fijian varieties, all noble types preferred for drinking:

  • Loa Kasa Balavu
  • Loa Kasa Leka
  • Vula Kasa Balavu
  • Vula Kasa Leka
  • Qila Leka
  • Qila Balavu
  • Matakaro Balavu
  • Matakaro Leka
  • Yonolulu
  • Damu
  • Yalu
  • Dokobana Vula
  • Dokobana Loa

Figures for spacing, cuttings, fertiliser, timing and the green-to-dried ratio come from the Ministry of Agriculture and Waterways yaqona leaflet (read 02/10/2026). Your own green kava per mound and price drive the harvest and value lines, so they are estimates only: soil, variety, weather, cyclones and how the kava is dried all change the real result. Ask your local agriculture extension officer for advice for your farm (see the farm help directory). Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Yaqona is also at the heart of the sevusevu - see our Fiji guide for visiting a village.

Cyclone season is coming

Kava blocks take years to grow. Get your farm cyclone plan ready before November.

Farm cyclone plan All handy tools