Field survey of potato cultivation in Tongwei County, Gansu
On the mountain there is a strange peak, locked in mist and smoke.
Ordinarily it cannot be seen, only occasionally revealing its towering form.
The morning scene of my hometown can be described with this five-character poem by Li Yunhe. If you walk toward the hillside, or set foot on the winding village road, you are greeted by locust blossoms in full bloom, a mass of pink and white. In the fields, wheat is jointing and filling its grain, corn stands about half a chi tall, purple-flowered alfalfa sways in the wind... I took these in at a glance, and from the rich array of crops I spotted a scattered mu or half a mu of potatoes here and there.
My hometown is a small community under Pinghe Village, Lidlan Township, Tongwei County, called "Yueshancha", located below the famous Tongwei temple Taibai Temple, surrounded by mountains on four sides, shaded by green trees, with an asphalt road winding past the village. The village has more than 40 households, of which 36 persist in farming.
According to community leader Zhang Ping, the whole village currently has more than 800 mu of arable land. Corn is the main cash crop and also the grain crop with the largest planting area in the village, followed by wheat and flax, and only then potatoes. Each household plants about 1.2 mu of potatoes, and the whole village plants about 40 mu, accounting for 5% of the total planting area. In a year with favorable weather, the yield per mu can reach 1,600 jin, and the village's total potato output is more than 64,000 jin.
Apart from a small portion that enters the market, the potatoes of Yueshancha are basically used for household consumption and feeding livestock. Zhang Ping said that the potatoes of Yueshancha community and even Lidlan Township have not become a cash industry to enrich farming households: first, sales are not smooth, and farmers must deliver potatoes to the town market, which takes time and effort and has relatively high transport costs; second, local cultivation is extensive, yields are not high, and economic returns are not obvious; third, there is a lack of driving force from leading enterprises in the processing and sales sector, and farmers are not highly motivated to grow potatoes.
Recently, several rains have dyed the mountains green and also brought the potatoes out of the soil, their dark green leaves sparse and airy, truly a lovely sight!
Text / Zhang Yu
Postscript: This is an "old news" piece written when I returned to my hometown in spring, when the weather was favorable and crops such as potatoes were thriving.
One season of crops is a heavenly inquiry and reflection on life. In just a few months, the crops of my hometown have gone through the nourishment of spring rain and the scorching heat of a dry summer, and the potatoes are now covered in wounds. My mother said that this year there was basically no harvest, and only the seed potatoes could be recovered.
Farmers, how bitter, how sad!
About the author: Zhang Yu has been engaged in media work for more than 10 years and has followed the potato industry for many years. He is currently executive editor of the "Potato Industry" page of China Food News.