At present, the planting area and output of potatoes in China account for 1% of the world's total potato production.

At a time when the potato staple grain strategy is quietly advancing, the "2015 World Potato Congress" was recently held in Yanqing, Beijing, where more than 1,000 potato experts from 37 countries and regions gathered at the foot of the Badaling Great Wall. Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu said that at present, China's potato industry will usher in a new period of rapid development, and the potato industry will become a witness to the improvement of China's modern agriculture. Little potato, ushered in a new opportunity.

As the main grain, more potatoes should be put into "grain bags"

It is Daejeon who really feels the strategic push of potato grain development.

stretch as far as eye can see. Blue and white potato flowers are swaying in the wind. At the edge of the potato field in Renfa Village, Henan Township, Keshan County, Heilongjiang Province, Li Fengyu, chairman of Renfa Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative, is used to carrying his hands behind his back to check the growth of crops. "with big ridges and deep ploughing, Renfa potatoes have high yield, good appearance, and can be sold at a good price. Cooperatives have signed orders with leading enterprises, and there is no shortage of sales. "

Potato is the fourth largest food crop in China. Last year, the planting area of potato in China was 5570 thousand hectares, and the output of fresh potato was more than 95 million tons. Yu Xinrong, vice minister of agriculture, said that the main grain of potatoes is the endogenous requirement of grain restructuring.

There is a tight balance between grain supply and demand, and there is an urgent need to find a new supporting point from the adjustment of grain structure. Although China's grain production has achieved bumper harvests in successive years, the total grain supply and demand is still in a tight balance. For a period of time in the future, China's grain consumption demand will still be a rigid growth trend. It is estimated that the increase in grain demand will be more than 50 million tons by 2020. Looking outward, China's grain imports exceeded 100 million tons last year (about 70 million tons of soybeans and 20 million tons of grains), and the import trend is still on the rise. Looking inward, the three major grain crops of rice, corn and wheat in China are affected by the area of cultivated land, planting benefits and the potential to increase production, and the new room for increasing production is limited.

Speeding up the development of potato production can continuously improve the comprehensive grain production capacity. Compared with wheat and rice, potato is cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant and barren-tolerant. In China, it is planted from south to north, from high altitude to low altitude, in spring, summer, autumn and winter, especially in the south. At present, the per unit yield of potatoes in China is only a little more than 1 ton, which is only 80% of the world average, less than 1% of the level of developed countries, and has great potential to increase production.

Promoting the development of potato staple food products and industries can achieve the sustainable development of agriculture. Li Guangcun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that in arid and semi-arid areas with an annual rainfall of about 350 mm, cereal crops are difficult to grow, while potatoes can not only grow normally, but also reduce soil erosion. The experiment shows that the yield of potato per mu can still reach 1.8 tons in the over-exploitation area of groundwater in North China with 500 mm annual precipitation.

Potato staple food products will enter more families.

"one radish and two eggs (refers to potatoes) is everyone's day." For Erjia, a villager of the Yi nationality in Longshu Township, Ludian County, Yunnan Province, dormant in poor mountainous areas, potatoes are a staple food for a day. Here, more than 2000 meters above sea level, there are mountain buns in front and back of the villagers' houses. Potatoes are grown so long that the villagers eat potatoes with big heads, corn at the middle end and rice at the small head.

Liu Qiang, director of the Poverty Alleviation Office in Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, said that in the whole Wumeng mountain area, most villagers are self-sufficient in potatoes. At present, the main grain of potatoes to meet the needs of urban people, can also increase the income of farmers. "the potato industry will no longer be synonymous with economically underdeveloped areas, and potatoes will no longer be just a staple food for the poor."

Potato staple food, the key is to staple food, increase consumption.

Yu Xinrong, vice minister of agriculture, pointed out that the staple diet of potatoes refers to the processing of potatoes into staple food products that suit the consumption habits of the Chinese people and account for an important proportion in their daily diet, as an important supplement to the three staple grains of rice, corn and wheat. Potato is a very suitable staple food crop, its nutrition is comprehensive and balanced, rich in a variety of vitamins, dietary fiber, potash and polyphenols, high nutritional value.

Staple food, supported by research and development. Taking the breeding of potato varieties as an example, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has completed the fine map of potato genome, which has laid a theoretical foundation for the realization of potato molecular breeding. At present, a national potato germplasm bank has been established in China, and nearly 2000 potato germplasm resources have been preserved, providing rich genetic resources for breeding special varieties for staple food processing.

Staple food, with consumption-oriented cultivation. On June 1 this year, the first generation of potato steamed bread, which accounts for 30% of the whole potato flour, was successfully put on the market in Beijing and has been sold in more than 200 supermarkets in Beijing, marking that potato staple food products have officially become a member of the dining table of residents. At present, China has successfully developed the second generation of potato staple food products, increasing the proportion of potato flour in steamed bread, noodles, rice noodles and other staple food products from 40%, 35% and 15% to 70%, 45% and 55% respectively. A series of new potato staple food products such as huli soup and Youtiao have also been developed.

Li Guangcun said: in order to meet the needs of industrial production, chain catering, large canteens and ordinary families, China has developed special equipment for processing potato staple food, such as integrated bionic rolling machine and step-by-step forming rice noodle machine. it has created opportunities and conditions for more potato staple food products to enter urban and rural households.

Breeding special varieties and building a base of high-quality raw materials

The prospect is promising.

Looking forward to the future of potato staple grain, Wang Xiaohu, a researcher at the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture, said: through analysis and calculation, by 2025, China's potato output will increase by 52 billion jin (grain discount), with an average yield per mu of 1500 kg, an increase of 350kg over the current level, and an increase of more than 300 yuan per mu. Farmers' net income from potato planting has increased by 45 billion yuan, driving the added value of agricultural products processing industry to more than 300 billion yuan.

However, in order to successfully put the potato into the 'grain bag' and realize the main grain of potato, it is necessary to face the existing difficulties.

There is still a shortage of varieties. At present, only a few varieties of potato in China are suitable for staple food development with Chinese characteristics, and different staple products have different requirements for potato varieties. Making steamed bread and noodles requires varieties with high extensibility of potato flour, but not for making rice noodles, so it is the key to cultivate more varieties of different ecological types and suitable for processing different staple food products.

The planting income is not stable enough. The price of potato has fluctuated seriously in recent years. From 2011 to 2013, the price of potato went from the lowest to the highest. In 2014, the price of potato in most producing areas entered a low period again, and now the price of each potato producing area begins to rise again. Therefore, it is very important to stabilize the potato planting income and improve the enthusiasm of farmers.

The processing cost is high. Wang Xiaohu said that taking the whole potato powder as an example, the potato needs to go through many processes such as cleaning, peeling, selecting, slicing, rinsing, pre-cooking, cooling, cooking, mashing, dehydration and drying, which increases the production cost of the whole potato powder. at present, the price of whole potato powder is about 10000 yuan per ton, which is 3 times that of flour. The high cost of products with whole powder as raw material is an important limiting factor for the main grain of potato.

If there is one less industrial difficulty, there will be more industrial advantage. Yu Xinrong said that the main grain of potatoes must follow the concept of "nutrition guides consumption and consumption guides production." It is necessary to select and breed a number of special varieties for staple food processing, build a number of production bases for high-quality raw materials, research and develop a number of staple food products and processing technologies, and support a number of leading staple food processing enterprises. Realize specialization of varieties, regionalization of planting, mechanization of production, industrialization of management, staple food of products, and form a new pattern of coordinated development of potatoes and grains. At present, the Ministry of Agriculture is stepping up the preparation of the "National Potato staple Food products and Industry Development Plan", which will be released in due course.