Research On Potato Industry Development In Shaanxi Province

In view of the global potato industry development, it has remained stable development over the past twenty years. The potato industry has been developing rather rapidly in the developing countries, which has become a new generator for the global potato industry. The gap between developed country and developing country in potato industry, in particular, in potato processing and trading, has been continuously enlarged. China ranks the first in potato production worldwide, but it is not a strong country in potato industry. The subject we are facing now is how to upgrade China and other developing countries'potato industry through developing potato processing. This is also the direction the potato industry should be heading and efforts should be made for the future. Compared to some stable crops such as wheat and maize, the technologies for potato production is by and large backward. However, a great development has been obtained in light of potato variety selection and extension, de-virus utilization and extension and agro-filming, and these achievements have pushed the development of potato industry and also provided a strong back-up for further development. The major problems existed in potato industry are: in terms of production, potato yield is low and unstable and it fluctuates year after year; in terms of potato processing, only small portion of potato is processed and utilization rate is low and production chain is short; in terms of potato consumption, potato is mainly consumed directly without processing into potato products. The major constraint elements are: the recognition on potato is shallow and little attention is paid; input is lacking, technical extension is backward and standardization is low. To push potato industry forward shall be rely on the above mentioned elements dissolved. A comprehensive analysis on potato indicates that potato occupies an important position in agricultural production. Potato is not only essential grain food, but also vegetable crops, and it also functions as feeds crops. It also has great potential to be developed as industrial raw materials. Potato has outstanding advantages in cultivation with high yield, favorable efficiency, short growing period and strong adaptation to local conditions. In particular, its advantages are more evident in remote mountainous areas. Potato is also a very nutritious product which contains a great deal of vitamins and food fiver elements. Potato is also subject to processing, which has great potential to be further developed and potato value could be further added. Potato is also promising for marketing and potato industry in developing countries shall enjoy a long term promising future. The demand for potato starch is increasingly enlarged and potato products for exportation is promising and the domestic demand for potato products start to rise. Meanwhile, Saanxi province enjoys favorable natural conditions, solid production basis, capital investment advantages and technical support advantages. These elements indicate that Shaanxi has great potential for potato production and it is possible and feasible for Shaanxi province to make potato industry bigger and stronger. The food security and income generation for farmers shall be given priority considerations when developing potato industry. Industrialization should be employed in potato industry development. To be specific, efforts should be made on three dimensions: in view of management, re-recognition on potato is needed to obtain and high attention is needed to place on potato industry development and related potato industry development plan and measurements are also needed to set out; in view of potato industry development, the north and south parts of Shaanxi province should be given more considerations in a way to establish specialized production base and give more support to the leading enterprises and foster potato industry marketing system and develop farmers'economic cooperative organizations; in view of technological advancement, it is needed to quicken the pace of specialized potato variety selection and breeding and make greater effort on de-virus potato variety multiplying and extension. Greater efforts should also be made to extend integrated high-yield cultivation technical system in a bid to improve potato production level.