The conditions for the main grain of potatoes are ripe and there are hidden worries about price fluctuations.

At a recent seminar held by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, promoting Tudou to become the fourth largest staple grain crop in China has been openly proposed from the perspective of national strategy for the first time, and has also become the focus of public discussion in recent days.

As of January 10, the number of readers on the topic of "potatoes as the staple grain" on Sina Weibo has reached 390 million, and a wave of potato staple grain is coming, but for now, can the focus of the public, the expectations of the government and the aspirations of enterprises quickly detonate the potato economy? A reporter from the China Industrial and Commercial Times visited and investigated people from different backgrounds in the industry.

The conditions for the main grain production are ripe.

After potatoes have become a staple food, the focus of public discussion remains on "potato chips, shredded potatoes, mashed potatoes, hot and sour, stir-fried, and vinegar." How would you like to eat? " Or "is Mr. Tudou out of the vegetable world? For Mr. Sweet Potato and Mr. Yam, it's too cruel! " Or something like that.

However, no matter from the perspective of national security or the nutrition of residents, the conditions for the staple grain of potatoes proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences are ripe.

According to the explanation of potato staple food at the seminar, its connotation is to use potato to process into steamed bread, noodles, rice noodles and other staple food products suitable for Chinese consumption habits. At present, potatoes have been transformed from non-staple food consumption to staple food consumption, from raw material products to industrial products, and from food and clothing consumption to nutrition and health consumption. as a supplement to China's three staple grains, potato has gradually become the fourth staple food crop.

The meeting believes that the staple grain of potatoes has become an inevitable choice, and it is estimated that by 2020, more than 50% of potatoes will be consumed as staple food. Yu Xinrong, vice minister of agriculture, also said that the planting area of potatoes will be expanded according to local conditions, "without squeezing out the three staple grains, the planting area of potatoes will be expanded from the current more than 80 million mu to 150 million mu, and the yield of potatoes per mu will be increased to more than 2 tons, so as to provide more guarantee for national food security."

From the perspective of planting conditions, potatoes adapt to the new requirements of agricultural sustainable development and structural adjustment, and are qualified to become the main alternative crops for agricultural structural adjustment. Because potatoes are resistant to cold, drought, barren and wide adaptability, they can be planted in most areas from south to north and from high altitude to low altitude. Compared with other crops, potatoes can not only save water and land, but also save fertilizer and medicine. "Rice needs a lot of water, but there is a shortage of water resources in our country, especially in the north, and the cost is very high. It is very appropriate to grow potatoes at this time, even in the mountains." Fan Zhihong, an associate professor at the School of Food and Nutrition Engineering, China Agricultural University.

"in many areas in the south that can produce two or three seasons a year, although they are rich in water resources, they do not make huge profits by relying solely on farming, and they are not willing to grow cheap potatoes, but they develop industry, and they do not know how to protect the environment in the early stage; while some places in the north are still farming because of underdeveloped economy, although the land conditions are not good and the water is not enough, at least they are less polluted." Fan Zhihong sighed.

In addition, from a nutritional point of view, potatoes are indeed suitable as staple grains rather than vegetables. As early as 2006, Fan Zhihong wrote an article calling for "eating only potatoes as a staple food every day." if you stick to it for a long time, it will help prevent excess nutrition and lose excess fat. The proposal to turn potatoes into staple food has just fulfilled her wish.

"what we eat most every day is staple food, so staple food is crucial to a person's nutritional supply throughout the day." Fan Zhihong analyzed that if we replace part of the rice with potatoes, we will get more nutrients, including protein with good amino acid balance and high utilization, which is comparable to the potassium content of bananas. In particular, the lack of vitamin C in rice and wheat is comparable to that of tomatoes, and the lack of vitamin B1 in rice will feel tired, slow in thinking, depressed, and due to starch. When cooking (especially by steaming and baking) potatoes also do less damage to vitamins than ordinary vegetables.

"Potato is the largest potato crop in the world, but we seem to regard potatoes as very worthless, while the first staple food in Europe is wheat, and the second is potatoes. Europeans think highly of potatoes. Why don't we?" Fan Zhihong said.

Changing habits is the biggest challenge

The origin of potatoes can be traced back to 8000BC-5000 BC in Peru and Bolivia, also has a history of hundreds of years in China, also known as potatoes, yams, yam eggs, hemp potatoes.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Tudou was rated by the United Nations as a hidden treasure (hidden treasure), also known as the International year of Potato (the International Year of the Potato), because only 5 per cent of Tudou participated in international transactions and its price and supply were stable. Around 2008, China has also become the largest potato country in the world in terms of output. At that time, the academic and political circles also put forward several plans for the transformation of staple food, which have been discussed in the industry in recent years, but they did not really enter the national strategic level until a few days ago. many people in the industry feel that it is too late to meet each other.

Liao Hongle, a researcher at the Rural Economic Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, told our reporter that potatoes have been used as feed for a long time in the past and have been more divided into vegetable categories in recent years. It is indeed a "minority thing" in our country, and he seldom studies it alone, but this time he proposes to turn potatoes into staple grains, so as to expand the planting area of potatoes to 150 million mu. It will account for more than 1/10 of the 1.316 billion mu of first-to sixth-class cultivated land in China. "this is a considerable proportion, and there is a lot of room for development for industrial and commercial capital.