The Ministry of Agriculture pushes the potatoes to make troubles. How can we tell the farmers?

The Ministry of Agriculture officially issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Potato Industry" on the 23rd, and will use the potato as a staple food product for industrial development. Promoting the development of the potato industry is a beneficial exploration of creating a staple food culture for well-to-do society, breaking the bottleneck of agricultural development, promoting agricultural transformation and upgrading, leading the green development of agriculture, and stimulating farmers to shake off poverty. It is also another initiative to lead the structural reform of the agricultural supply side, promote the increase of grain yields, improve quality and efficiency, and achieve sustainable agricultural development.

On January 6 last year, the Ministry of Agriculture officially launched the “Potato Main Grainization” national strategy, arranging potatoes and rice, wheat, and corn as China's four major staple foods. The Ministry of Agriculture officially issued guidance on accelerating the use of potatoes as staple food products. Industrialization development provides policy support. Why should we put forward the potato ration strategy? How is the current status of the potato industry in our country? Is there any experience that can be learned from abroad? Where are the future development directions? See Xiaobian to answer with you.

Potato's main grain is a national strategy and a general trend

After the country proposed potato staples, many people think that this indicates that China's grain reserves must have problems. Only the central government is not clear about the problem. After the "twelve consecutive increase" in grain, why should the "grainization of the potato" be understood by many people? In fact, the staple grain of the potato is both a national strategy and a general trend.

1. The main grain of potato has a global significance

At present, the national industrial and urban water use accounts for 30% of the total, and agricultural water accounts for nearly 70%, of which the effective water use accounts for only 1/3. Taking the existing three staple foods as an example, rice, wheat, and corn are all high-water-consumption crops. Among them, wheat needs 100 square feet of physiological water, and corn has 120-140 square feet. Multiply this base by their planting area to get astronomical water consumption without considering 2/3 of its waste.

Especially in the "funnel zone" of North China, about 5,500,000 mu of main grain-producing areas, in order to pour the crops on the ground, groundwater is harvested to several hundred meters deep, forming an underground "funnel" leading to precipitation, surface runoff and groundwater "three waters." "Imbalance, can not be recycled.

The potato is precisely a crop that is drought-tolerant, low-temperature-resistant, salt-tolerant, and has a short growing period and high yield. Another strong advantage of potatoes and labor is also of great significance in China today. With the large-scale industrialization and urbanization, the problem of “difficulty in employment” in rural areas is widespread and prominent. “What kind of things do you need to grow and how to save time?” There is no avoidable common problem from south to north.

The second area where the potato is suitable is the famous “Hu Huanyong Line”, which is a basic straight line inclined from the Heihe River in Heilongjiang Province to Tengchong County in Yunnan Province at an angle of 45 degrees. The arid and semi-arid region in meteorology is an effective cumulative temperature for ordinary crops. There are large areas of potential farmland that have not been used.

There is also a third southern winter field, which is about 270 million mu, of which at least 170 million mu can be used to grow potatoes.

These three large blocks, together with the existing 80 million mu, will surely increase the total area of ​​200 million mu of potato planted in the country. This 200 million mu will not compete with other three major food crops for land, water, labor, fertilizer, and drugs. According to an average of two tons per mu, 400 million tons of special potatoes will be harvested each year, equivalent to 80 million tons of whole powder. . What is the concept of this? It is equivalent to the addition of a summer grain crop, which is a great contribution – which relieves pressure on food security, adjusts the planting structure, increases farmers' income, and improves the ecological environment. It is no exaggeration to say that it has a global significance. Potato staple food is the most effective strategic measure taken to confront China's current food security problems. It has a significant positive effect on safeguarding national food security, improving agricultural production efficiency and income, improving the physical fitness of the nation, and optimizing the ecological environment. It can be said that the benefits of potato staples are numerous.

2. The market forced the potato to become staple

Our country has already achieved a “twelve consecutive increase” in grain production. The basic judgment that the Chinese people’s jobs are in their own hands is not wrong. However, at the same time as grain production year after year, the amount of grain imports has also increased year after year. The White Paper on China’s Food Problems in 1996 first proposed the goal of a self-sufficiency ratio of at least 95%. The National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for National Food Security (2008-2020) reaffirmed this goal. However, in fact, by 2014, the self-sufficiency rate of grain in China has dropped to 87%.

On the one hand, because of grain statistics, in addition to rice, wheat, and corn, they also include the largest amount of imported soybeans. If soybeans are singled out, it should be said that the amount of imported rations is not large, and basic rations are self-sufficient. The requirements are in line with the reality. On the other hand, the decline in the self-sufficiency rate of grain is the inevitable result of the escalation of consumption, participation in international markets, and international division of labor. Experts generally believe that the 95% red line was proposed in the 1990s. Under the new situation, the connotation of food security is not exactly the same as 10 years and 20 years ago. Therefore, ensuring a higher self-sufficiency rate for food, especially rations, is the bottom line; in the future, further economic development, population growth, and pressures on the environment and resources will be reduced, and the appropriate imports of industrial grain, feed grain, and even rations will be inevitable.

As food imports have increased year after year, there is also a strange phenomenon: Potato imports have increased year after year in recent years. This forced the relevant policy makers to be vigilant: “Does even potatoes have to be imported?” At the same time, it encourages people to think and explore possible solutions.

3. What does the Chinese lack?

In the so-called staple food or staple food, there is a simple method of identification—the staple food that is eaten in the hand and eaten in the hand, and is served on the plate in the middle of the table as a non-staple food. According to the international consensus, staple foods are “big four”: large-area, large-scale planting, large enough production, long-term storage in relatively large areas, and nutritional value that most people like to eat.

Using this measure, none of the potato's performance was excellent.

The current national potato acreage is about 80 million mu. Although it is not in the order of 550 million mu of corn, 450 million mu of rice, and 340 million mu of wheat, it is still a gap between the 100 million mu of soybeans, but it is certainly large-scale. Planting.

Calculated according to the current domestic average yield of one ton per mu, the national potato production is about 80 million tons, equivalent to about 16 million tons of potato powder, equivalent to 1/6 of the total national summer grain output. The average production level per mu in the world is 1.2 tons, and in developed countries, it is nearly 3 tons and the highest is 8 tons. This is related to the fact that we don't cultivate it well, we don't need to grow it well, we don't use high-starch varieties (because of vegetables), and on the other hand, we have great potential for yield.

The staple food must be stored for at least an anniversary, and resistance to survival is the strength of the potato. After the potato is dehydrated and dried, it is ground into powder, which is called potato powder. It can generally survive for seven or eight years, far more than rice, flour and corn. It is an incredible market advantage that buyers are willing to accept, store easily, lose less, and make money.

As for the nutritional value, it can be said that the insignificant potato is “all treasures”: Compared with the three major staple foods, it has a low carbohydrate content, so it has low calorie content and low total sugar, and is particularly suitable for “three high” people. ; However, high dietary fiber content is particularly suitable for the "Ten Men and Nine Dragonflies" people; at the same time, the human body must have high levels of vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, selenium, iron and zinc, which are easily lacking in the Chinese population. What people lack is what it is." Therefore, potato staples will bring about a "dietary revolution" for the Chinese people. Eating potatoes as staple foods can strengthen the Chinese nation.

The status and predicament of potato industrialization

Opportunities and challenges faced by potato staple food products and industry development in China are obviously: It is not only necessary for the country to achieve the transformation of potato consumption from non-staple food consumption to staple food consumption, from raw material products to industrialized series of manufactured products, and from the food and clothing consumption to nutritional and health consumption. Policy support also requires scientific and technical workers, potato planting and processing companies, and a large number of potato farmers to make painstaking efforts.

In recent years, China's potato planting area has stabilized at more than 80 million mu and reached 84.219 million mu in 2013, mainly in the southwest, northeast and northwest regions. According to statistics from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2013, China's potato production reached 88.925 million tons, accounting for 24.2% of the world's total production.

According to the "12th Five-Year Development Plan for Potato Processing Industry" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China in early 2012, by 2015, the total output value of China's potato processing industry will reach 35 billion yuan, profits and taxes will be 4.5 billion yuan, and 14 million tons of potatoes will be transformed and processed in 2015. Ton.

Seeing the economic growth point of potatoes as a staple food product, some companies are waiting in the wings to expand their business to the production and processing of potato powder. Wu Zhaohui, deputy general manager of Inner Mongolia Minfeng Potato Co., Ltd., which is the main business of potato R&D and seed potato production, said that although the main energy of the company is in the breeding of new potato varieties and the expansion and promotion of virus-free seed potatoes, Driven by the good news of potato grain production, the company is stepping up its efforts to build a potato powder plant with an annual output of 10,000 tons, and plans to put it into operation in September this year. The Inner Mongolia Nairn Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd., which integrates potato breeding, planting, starch research and development, production and sales, will also develop more varieties of potato products through the trend of potato staples.

However, for the majority of growers in the upper reaches of the potato industry chain, whether the potato grain strategy can fully mobilize their cultivation enthusiasm remains to be considered. In recent years, the disorderly entry of social hot money and the blind investment of growers have caused the price of potatoes to fluctuate significantly, and the phenomenon of unsalable sales or damage to potato crops has frequently occurred. In recent years, although growers have a fine seed subsidy of 1 yuan per kilogram and some subsidy for agricultural implements, after the potato becomes a staple food, it should also enjoy similar direct food subsidies, subsidy for means of production, and minimum purchase price as other staple foods. Sexual policy.

With the advancement of science and technology, significant progress has been made in the development of potatoes as a staple food. At the same time, the proportion of potato flour in staple foods such as potato steamed buns, noodles, rice noodles, and rice is already about 10%. Raised to 70%, 45%, 55%, 35%. Many domestic provinces and cities have already had a lot of potatoes as a staple food.

The plight of China's potato industry.

First of all, there is a lack of good varieties, and there are few professional seed potatoes suitable for processing whole flour and the quality is unstable. "We have eaten potato chips and French fries for many years. We can't do it domestically. One of the important reasons is that the varieties cannot." Liang Xisen, chairman of the largest potato company in the country, Xisen Potato Industry Group, said, "The best variety is As the species has been degraded for two years, it is necessary to continue to nurture generations of excellent seeds through scientific research and development in order to increase production."

Second, compared with other staple crops, the level of potato production mechanization is obviously low, and the processing industry chain has not yet formed. Because of its relatively high viscosity, it is not easy to mechanize. Concentrated in difficult fermentation, difficult molding, and difficult molding, it is easy to crack. Some companies have conducted relevant production tests and found that unlike the production of wheat flour staple foods, potato staple foods are difficult to shape and can hardly be used for large-scale mechanized production. For this reason, although they have made many efforts, they are still not produced in large quantities.

In addition, the high cost of products based on whole powder is a key factor in the development of potato staple food products. According to the survey, taking Shantou as an example, it is also made into whole powder, and the price of whole potato powder is 4 to 5 times more than that of wheat flour. If the processing cost of steamed bread is not taken into consideration, only the raw material cost of the steamed bread is nearly 2-3 times that of wheat.

Despite many difficulties, industry experts and entrepreneurs believe that China's promotion of potato staple food products and industry development is still an unprecedented good news, and will drive the domestic and large potential potato industry market to deep-seated development. To make potatoes become the fourth-largest staple food in China, it is necessary to “intensify cultivation” in all aspects.

The future direction of the potato industry

The potato industry in China stays at the initial stage of cultivation and raw material sales. The added value of the industry is relatively low. There is still a big gap between potato processing technology and advanced regions. The entire potato industry is still in a “great resource, small Industry" situation. In order to change this situation, it is necessary to improve the added value of the potato by positioning the value chain and implementing forward integration and backward integration of the potato industry. In the link of the potato industry chain, especially in the innovation process of processing and refining the primary potato, the core competitiveness of the Dingxi potato industry should be improved through technological innovation. The traditional potato industry has been transformed into a highly refined processing industry to increase the added value of potatoes. Get more profits.

(1) Optimize the layout of raw materials for staple food products on the premise of resource endowments. Taking comprehensive consideration of the conditions of water and land resources, agricultural division, production and technical conditions, and potential for yield increase, and in accordance with the principle of giving full play to comparative advantages, guidance on zoning, and highlighting key areas, optimize the production layout and increase the raw materials for the development of staple food products.

(b) The development of diversified staple food products will be guided by consumer demand. To do a good job of the consumer side, it is customary to guide them from all aspects, to take advantage of this and to increase investment in product innovation, which will have many opportunities to develop potato staple foods suitable for different regions, different consumer groups, and different nutritional functions. Vigorously promote the development of traditional mass-based staple food products and focus on solving the key technical bottlenecks. Develop popular staple food products such as steamed bread, noodles, rice noodles, bread, and cakes.

(III) To promote the production of raw materials for staple food products with the support of variety breeding. Breed new varieties suitable for processing of staple foods, speed up the introduction of potato germplasm resources, develop and utilize superior germplasm resources, promote innovation in breeding methods, use research results in molecular biology, and combine conventional techniques for variety improvement. We will improve and perfect the production and quality control system of virus-free seed potatoes, and strengthen the production of original species, original species and improved varieties to meet the needs of production and use.

(D) Drive technology innovation, research and development of staple food processing technology and equipment. The research and development of raw material energy-saving treatment and environmental protection technology, and the matching of raw material processing equipment with high efficiency, ensure the quality and nutrition of raw materials, and effectively reduce energy consumption and waste emission. Research and development of fermentation aging technology, matching temperature, humidity, and time intelligent control equipment to improve dough rheological properties and improve fermentation efficiency. Encourage large-scale, independent innovation ability, have core technology, strong profitability, high integrity of the processing enterprises, develop staple food product brand, enhance market competitiveness, and create a number of staple food processing leading enterprises.

(E) Focus on nutrition function to guide residents to consume staple food products. To carry out nutritional evaluation of potato staple food products. Establish a nutritional function evaluation system. Relying on national and provincial scientific research institutes, colleges and universities and large leading enterprises to establish a national potato nutrition database. Develop potato nutrition function.

Lei Jun said that "putting a pig on a large tuyere will fly it." The convening of the 2015 World Potato Congress and the establishment of a national strategy for potato staples will surely give birth to a “Tudou+” atmosphere. It turned out to be the only full-nutrition food in the world. The UN said that it is "the world's greatest food" and "only potatoes can save humanity!"

A "potato revolution" that changes the Chinese diet and related industries is detonating in a high-profile manner in China.

There are at least three implications of this revolution: At the national level, to ensure national food security, the potato's huge potential for yield increase can protect Xi’s alleged “bowl filled with food produced by him”; on the national level, it can improve the Chinese diet. The nutrition structure allows more than 1.3 billion Chinese people to eat more nutritiously and healthier. On the commercial level, it can pull a trillion business opportunities to create a win-win situation for both the rich and the rich.