New Trends of Food Security in China

Recently, a kind of potato steamed bread, also known as potato steamed bread, has quietly appeared and sold well in more than 200 supermarkets in Beijing. It is understood that by October this year, the scope of sale will also be expanded to more than 500 supermarkets in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

The advent of this steamed bread, which looks yellowish in color and not much different from traditional wheat steamed bread, does not simply mean the emergence of a new food product. behind it is a major change in China's food security pattern over thousands of years-potatoes are likely to become the fourth major staple grain varieties after the three staple grain varieties of wheat, rice and corn. A new proposition concerning the problem of feeding 1.3 billion people is beginning to be interpreted.

The problem-breaking work of the development strategy is tested with more than 800 kilograms of potato powder.

Yu Xinrong, vice minister of agriculture, said that the staple grain of potatoes refers to the processing of potatoes into steamed bread, noodles, rice noodles and other staple food products, so as to realize the change from current non-staple food consumption to staple food consumption.

Potato steamed bread is the first staple food product released by the Ministry of Agriculture after the potato staple grain development strategy was announced at the beginning of this year. It was successfully developed by a professional five-member team of the Agricultural products processing Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The project is seen as a masterpiece of the potato grain strategy.

On the second floor of Wumart supermarkets Huanran Pavilion in Beijing, bags of three potato steamed buns are placed together with traditional wheat steamed buns. From the appearance, potato steamed bread and wheat steamed bread, except for the color is slightly different, there is not much difference in other aspects. "when I first arrived, it was five yuan and eighty cents a bag. it was on sale yesterday. You can buy a bag for four dollars and twenty cents." The shop assistant at the scene said that 20 or 30 bags can be sold today, and the customers are mainly chic and fresh.

"it tastes a little sweet, and the taste is a little dry and powdered. I feel good." Mr. Qin, who has just tasted something new, commented.

Mu Taihua, chief scientist of the potato processing innovation team of the Agricultural processing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, who worked hard on the project, said that the project was launched in 2013. the whole project was involved by three units, including three units in the food and nutrition development research site of the Ministry of Agriculture. More than a dozen people joined the potato processing innovation team of the Agricultural processing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, including five dedicated efforts in the development of potato steamed bread. Others work hard to develop steamed buns, cakes and other varieties.

Mu Taihua told Xinhua Viewpoint that the most difficult part in the development is the pilot test, that is, the process from laboratory formula to factory active production. They found an enterprise in Beijing to conduct a small-scale experiment, once with a quantity of more than 20 kilograms, which took more than 40 times to complete. Because of the high viscosity of potato powder, it is easy to stick to the roller of steamed bread molding machine, so it can only be scratched by hand or scraped with a scraper, which takes more than two hours to clean up each time.

Yu Xinrong believes that for a long time, the reason why potato has not become a staple grain is due to "three deficiencies": first, domestic potato consumption has always been based on fresh food, and there is a lack of staple food products suitable for Chinese cooking and eating culture; second, there is a lack of special potato varieties and processing techniques suitable for Chinese staple food products such as noodles, rice, rice noodles, etc. Third, the public mostly regard potatoes as food to satisfy their hunger, and lack of guidance is the premise of the social situation of staple food consumption.

The proposal of potato staple grain strategy and the success of potato steamed bread may change the above scene.

"We have developed a new type of steamed bread through the combination of potato flour and wheat flour, which affirms that potatoes can also be used to make a series of products suitable for Chinese traditional food culture. It is feasible for potatoes to become staple grains. " Mu Taihua said.

Is potato included in the staple grain because there is not enough food to eat?

People concerned believe that promoting potato to become the fourth largest staple grain variety in China is aimed at coping with the contradiction between the rigid increase in grain demand in the future and the difficulty in increasing the production of food rations, and to develop a new way to ensure national food security. The Ministry of Agriculture expects that potatoes are rich in nutrition and can supply 400 billion jin of food in the future after becoming a staple grain.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, the planting area of summer grain in China this year has reached 415 million mu, an increase of more than 1 million mu over the previous year. Han Changfu, minister of agriculture, believes that the situation of high yield of winter wheat this year is relatively good, and the increase in summer grain production is expected to achieve "12 consecutive harvests" on the basis of last year's high increase.

Although China's grain harvest continues to be bumper and the grain production situation is good, it can not cover up the pressure on China's food security in the future. Experts predict that for a long time in the future, China's grain consumption demand will still be a rigid increasing trend, and the grain demand will increase by more than 100 billion jin by 2020. However, due to the bondage of cultivated land water capital and the influence of planting efficiency, the cost of increasing production of wheat, rice and other food rations varieties continues to increase, the space becomes smaller, and the difficulty increases. In order to ensure China's food security, it is necessary to develop new ways to increase production.

"potatoes are cold-resistant, drought-tolerant, barren-tolerant and adaptable. Potatoes can be grown in most areas from south to north and from high to low elevations, especially in the development and use of winter fallow fields in the south, and there is great potential for potato expansion." Yu Xinrong said: only from the point of view of water saving, potato needs less water for development, and its lowest transpiration coefficient is only 350, while wheat and rice are 450 and 500 respectively, which makes it possible to become a main push crop in rain-fed agriculture. In the northwest arid and semi-arid areas with annual precipitation of about 350 mm, the development of cereal crops is difficult, but the potato can develop normally. The Ministry of Agriculture organized an experiment in Hengshui, Hebei Province. In the over-exploited area of groundwater in North China with an annual precipitation of 500 mm, the yield of potatoes per mu can still reach 1.8 tons under the premise of complete rain cultivation.

According to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, the theoretical yield of potatoes can reach 8 tons per mu, while the average yield of potatoes in our country is only a little more than 1 ton. In the future, the planting can be expanded to 150 million mu without crowding out the three staple grains, and the yield per mu can be increased to 2 tons by promoting a high-yield, efficient and sustainable technological model, so that the annual output of fresh potatoes can be increased by 200 million tons, or 400 billion jin. This is equivalent to about 1/3 of the country's total grain output in 2014.

In Mu Taihua's view, potatoes as a staple grain have other nutritious benefits. "from a nutritional point of view, potatoes have a very comprehensive nutritional composition and a fair nutritional layout, not only containing egg white matter and calcium, but also rich in vitamin B, vitamin C and a variety of minerals," he said. "

How many hurdles do you have to go through from non-staple food to staple food?

Put into nearly January, potato steamed bread market performance is excellent. Li Lianggong, deputy general manager of Beijing Haileda Food Co., Ltd., told reporters that potato steamed buns have been opened in more than 240 supermarkets in Beijing, with monthly sales ranging from 5.5 million yuan to 6 million yuan. At its peak, 800 or 900 bags of 350 grams per bag can be sold a day, with an average daily sales volume of 500 to 600 bags. It's hot now, and it's the off-season for selling. When it is cold in autumn, the sales of steamed bread should increase significantly in the peak season.

"at present, potato steamed bread sales account for 1% of our steamed bread sales, and the market response is good. Our policy is to launch some new products in October and will expand the number of stores in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to 500, with daily sales reaching two tons. " Li Lianggong said.

However, the reporter interviewed and found that if potatoes are to be completely changed into staple food, they must at least go through the "three hurdles" in front of them.

-- first of all, there should be convenient craftsmanship and materials for thousands of families to make. One of the prerequisites for potatoes to become a staple food is to be able to make steamed bread from wheat flour and rice into rice, so that each family can easily make food that suits its own taste. Unlike flour, potato powder has many problems, such as difficult fermentation, difficult molding, high viscosity, easy cracking and so on.

Mu Taihua told reporters that his team is experimenting with the development of a formula of baking powder that can be used for household use. "the policy is that after this baking powder is developed, as long as the method of processing is indicated on the packaging, the public can process their own essential food in accordance with the declaration."

Second, the price should be affordable to the ordinary public. Wumart supermarkets Huanran Pavilion shop salesperson told reporters that at present, potato steamed bread in the promotion stage compared with wheat steamed bread, the cost is almost double. Li Lianggong said that if the price is expensive because of potato powder. Recently, a ton of wheat flour costs about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, while a ton of potato flour costs at least 9,000 yuan.

-- the third hurdle needs to be accepted and recognized by consumers. Relevant experts suggest that the area of our country is vast and the eating habits of different regions are very different. For potatoes to be staple food, it is necessary to have products with various spirits and tastes to meet the diversified needs of different groups and different regions in order to be recognized and accepted by consumers. Li Lianggong hinted: "on the one hand, it needs publicity and guidance, on the other hand, it also depends on the market." It is estimated that it will not be until 2020 to reach the level of popularity of wheat steamed buns. "

At the same time, other experts pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen the basic research of potato processing. "such as the problem of fermentation. Wheat contains gluten egg white, which is easy to ferment and expand, while potatoes do not have this egg white, so it is not as easy to ferment as wheat. This needs to be solved by basic research. " Mu Taihua said.