Potato to Become China's Fourth Major Staple Crop: How Will Staple-ization Be Advanced

Potato to Become China's Fourth Major Staple Crop: How Will the Potato Be Made a Staple Food?

Yesterday (January 6), Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Xinrong said at the “Potato Staple-ization Strategic Seminar” that in the future, by advancing potato staple-ization, efforts will be made, through several years of unremitting work, to significantly increase the potato's planting area, per-unit yield, total output, and the share of staple-ized products in total potato consumption, so that the potato gradually becomes China's fourth major staple crop after rice, wheat, and corn.

The meeting held that potato staple-ization has become an inevitable choice, and it is expected that by 2020, more than 50% of potatoes will be consumed as a staple food. Yu Xinrong said that the potato planting area will be expanded according to local conditions, “on the premise of not crowding out the three major staple crops, expanding the potato planting area from the current more than 80 million mu to 150 million mu, and raising the potato yield per mu to more than 2 tons, to provide more guarantees for national food security.”

⟦NL> “At present, supporting cultivation techniques for potato production are becoming increasingly mature, integrating key technologies such as double ridges, film mulching, drip irrigation, and integrated water and fertilizer management with agricultural machinery as the carrier, and staple food products such as steamed buns, noodles, and rice noodles with a whole potato flour content of more than 35%, as well as leisure foods such as bread, have been successfully developed. In addition, potatoes are low in fat, high in protein quality, and lower in calories than wheat and rice, which meets the current pursuit of diverse diets and healthy eating among Chinese residents. These factors will all lay the material and social foundation for potatoes to become a staple food product in China.” said Wan Baorui, director of the National Food and Nutrition Advisory Committee.

Advancing potatoes as a staple food product in China is of great significance for safeguarding national food security. The reporter learned from the Ministry of Agriculture that by 2020 China's grain demand increment will reach more than 100 billion jin, but constrained by cultivated land resources and affected by planting returns, the space for continued increases in staple grain varieties such as wheat and rice has become smaller and the difficulty greater. Potatoes, however, are cold-resistant, drought-resistant, and tolerant of barren soil, highly adaptable, and easier to plant, belonging to the “four-saving” crops that “save water, save fertilizer, save pesticide, and save effort.”

Potato, commonly known as the potato, is the world's fourth-largest food crop. It has been cultivated in China for more than 400 years, with an area of more than 80 million mu, but affected by consumption habits and market demand, China's potato production and consumption generally show characteristics such as slow growth, a not-high production level, and uneven development.

■ Clarification

How will the potato be made a staple food?

Relevant personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture said that in the future potatoes will be processed into staple food products such as steamed buns, noodles, and rice noodles suitable for Chinese people's dietary consumption habits, realizing the current transformation of potatoes from non-staple food consumption to staple food consumption, from raw material products to industrialized series of finished products, and from subsistence consumption to nutritional and healthy consumption, serving as a supplement to China's three major staple crops of wheat, rice, and corn, and gradually becoming the fourth major staple crop.

What principles does staple-ization follow?

In terms of advancement principles, it is necessary to achieve “one no and three persistences.”

“One no” means not competing with the three major staple crops of wheat, rice, and corn for water and land. “Three persistences” means persisting in giving consideration to both staple-food-ization and comprehensive utilization, persisting in combining government guidance with market determination, and persisting in unifying overall advancement with key breakthroughs.

■ Three Major Advantages

Satiety: Potatoes provide a very good feeling of fullness after eating and are very hunger-resistant.

High nutrition: Potatoes have a high protein content and contain all the amino acids necessary for the human body. Potatoes have the most complete vitamin content among all food crops, with a content equivalent to 2 times that of carrots; B vitamins are 4 times that of apples.

Easy to store: Potatoes store better than wheat, corn, and rice, and whole potato flour can be stored for 15-20 years without deteriorating.

■ Further Reading

1. Guo Fenglian, a National People's Congress deputy and Party secretary of Dazhai Village, Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, once proposed at the Two Sessions to “establish the staple food status of potatoes as soon as possible.”

2. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization long ago listed the potato as one of the four major staple crops, guaranteeing its staple food status in terms of planting area and scientific research investment.

3. There are more than 1,000 potato varieties worldwide. In Western developed countries, whole potato flour is processed into biscuits and bread, and industrially it can be made into modified starch, widely used in food, cosmetics, petroleum, chemicals, medical care, and other industries.

■ Netizen Comments

@Budongrushan: Support! For a water-scarce country like ours, what capital do we have to use rice as a staple food? Rice, especially single-season rice in the north, should originally be a luxury.

@Student Chengbin: University cafeterias long ago listed potatoes as a staple food……

@Baizhuan: Sweet potato!

@Study Fan Club: Potatoes have strong vitality, low planting requirements, cost-effective production, and nutritional value suitable for humans. This guy has boundless prospects!

@Han Qi: When a food crisis appears in the future world, only the potato can save humanity.