Potatoes are about to become a staple crop, so why can't sweet potatoes? Let's first look at what the three major staple crops are. They are wheat, rice and corn, and their status should be unshakable; everyone accepts this. But as the fourth major staple crop, potatoes face a lot of doubt. In fact, this is understandable.

First, the older generation in our country strongly recognizes sweet potatoes as the fourth major staple crop.

This is mainly because many older people in our country grew up eating sweet potatoes in childhood. My parents are now in their sixties, and in their memories of their younger years they really ate a lot of sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes can also be ground into flour to make noodles and the like. But why can't a food that carries the memory of a whole generation beat potatoes and enter the ranks of staple crops?

Nutrition is key!

On this point, sweet potatoes are completely outmatched. Sweet potatoes contain too little protein; apart from water, they are basically starch, which simply cannot meet the nutrition people need in daily life. But potatoes are much better; their nutrients are relatively complete. In addition, some young women also choose to eat potatoes rather than sweet potatoes while losing weight, and this is also a real-world phenomenon that reflects the problem.

Besides nutrition, we often see the natural scenery of Northern Europe on TV and find it very beautiful. But Northern Europe is extremely cold, and grain yields are extremely low; their staple food is potatoes. And it can be said that all kinds of imaginative ways of preparing potatoes are eye-opening. The fact that Northern Europeans treat potatoes as a staple food rather than choosing sweet potatoes shows that potatoes have advantages that sweet potatoes do not.

The first is the issue of growing environment. In the extremely cold temperatures of Northern Europe, potatoes can still grow, which shows that potatoes are highly adaptable. Sweet potatoes do not have this.

The second is potato yield. To become a staple crop, yield must be sufficient. The yield of sweet potatoes is about 2000 jin per mu, but potatoes are simply at full power; potato yield can be more than twice that of sweet potatoes.

The third is potato storage. Potatoes can be stored longer than sweet potatoes. In the old hometown there would be sweet potato cellars specifically used to store sweet potatoes, because sweet potatoes do not keep well. But potatoes can be stored for a long time.

The fourth is that potatoes can be eaten in more varied ways. There is no need to say much about this; everyone knows it. Finally, there is the fact that potatoes suit a broader range of people. Sweet potatoes, because of their higher sugar content, can easily cause gastrointestinal discomfort when eaten in large amounts. These are all reasons that limit sweet potatoes from becoming a staple crop. Of course, there is also the nutrition issue mentioned above.

Having said so much, whether or not it becomes a staple crop does not really matter, as long as you like eating it.

The above comes from Science Xingnong.