Gansu Province (Gansu), a plateau region located in Northwest China, is facing an opportunity in potato industry brought by increasing planting area, growing demand and well-developed seed production. Gansu is one of the major potato planting areas at home, accounting for over 10% of the country's total in both planting area and output. The growing demand in local and external markets is expected to boost the digestion of potato output in Gansu. Moreover, the expanding capacity of virus-free seed potato in Gansu would greatly improve the yield and quality of potato, according to CCM’s September Issue of Seed China News.
The planting of potato in Gansu has been in an overall upward trend. Total planting area of potato in Gansu amounts to 674,133 ha. (10.11 million mu) in 2012, compared with 657,800 ha. in 2007. According to official department of Gansu, total potato output of Gansu is expected to exceed 12 million tonnes in 2012, slightly higher than that in 2011. Thanks to the timely prevention and control measures, the potato late blight occurred this Aug. has not brought serious loss to local potato planting.
At present, potato produced in Gansu has entered sales season after the harvest around Oct. Owing to the increasing market demand, the purchase price of fresh potato this year is obviously higher than that in the previous year. For example, the purchase price of one fresh potato weighted between 100g and 200g reached USD0.13/kg (RMB0.80/kg) in Gansu market after Sept. 2012, up 60% year on year. The sales of potato in Gansu are processing smoothly and the short supply even appears in partial regions.
The external sales of fresh potato produced in Gansu would increase significantly this year, expected to reach 5 million tonnes from about 4 million tonnes in 2011. Gansu has become an important export origin of potato, with fresh or refrigerated potato exported to more than 40 countries and regions in Asia, Europe, Africa, etc. Potatoes as raw materials of fries have been provided to multinational fast food giants like KFC and McDonald. The rapid expanding of fast food industry has boosted the development of potato processing industry, promoting the consumption of fresh potato.
Gansu has almost achieved the full coverage of virus-free seed potato across 53 major potato planting counties or districts in the province, greatly improving potato yield and quality. In 2012, the task issued by Gansu provincial government on promoting virus-free potato has been completed: 666.7 ha. (10,000 mu) of original seed potato production, 6,666.7 ha.(1 million mu) of second-class seed potato production and 666,666.7 ha.(10 million mu) of virus-free seed potato planting. As the largest seed potato production area at home, Gansu totally owns the production capacity of virus-free potato plantlet over 250 million plants and virus-free potato minituber over 400 million grains annually.
Local government has increased the investment to support the production of virus-free seed potato. Since 2008, Gansu provincial government integrates USD15.77 million (RMB100 million) each year, mainly for supporting the production of virus-free potato plantlet and seed potato, the construction of insect net shelf & storage house and the variety breeding of potato. For example, in June 2012, Gansu Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department with Finance Department assigned total subsidies of USD1.56 million (RMB9.90 million) to some leading manufacturers of potato minituber in the province.
Apart from local government, local banks like Gansu Agricultural Development Bank also actively provide loans to large seed potato manufacturers. With sufficient funds, some seed potato manufacturers such as Dingxi (City) Ailan Potato Seed Co., Ltd., Weiyuan (County) Tiandi Chinese Herbal Co., Ltd., Gansu Wanxiang Doneed Potato Seed Co., Ltd., etc., are able to expand the production scale of virus-free seed potatoes and upgrade seed quality.
Dingxi City (Dingxi) in Gansu, as one of the most suitable places for potato planting in the world, has developed into China's largest seed potato production base, important production base of commercial potato and potato processing base. Relying on the prosperous seed potato industry in Dingxi, Gansu is able to distribute fine seed potatoes to major potato planting regions inside and outside the province, making a positive contribution to the development of national potato industry. It is expected that Gansu's potato industry would achieve further development in the coming few years, mainly in view of the growing consumption and rising seed potato production.
In future, the potato industry in Gansu would be mainly divided into four major plates: potato planting for starch processing, potato planting for french fries use or potato flour processing, potato planting for vegetable use and production of virus-free seed potatoes. With the process of mechanization and industrialization promoted by local government and leading enterprises, potato planting, processing and seed potato production would gradually become a dominant industry in Gansu.
Source: Seed China News 1209
http://www.cnchemicals.com/Newsletter/NewsletterDetail_28.html
Content of Seed China News 1209:
Gansu's potato industry meeting development opportunity
Release of GM food crops would take some time in China
Tetraploid black locust to increase feed supply
Mechanized rice transplanting rising in northern Jiangsu
Intercropping with corn to boost soybean output
Rising resistant weeds elevate herbicide use on wheat
Henan Xundan would seek corporate acquisitions
Henan Qiule to get listed
Development of homemade seed coating agent stays at low level
Bamboo-rice: a breakthrough of rice distant hybridization
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