Potato industry thrives in SW China's Guizhou

Recently, potatoes planted on 120,000 mu (8,000 hectares) of fields in Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County in southwest China's Guizhou Province have entered the harvest season. At the planting base of a potato planting and sales cooperative in the county's Xueshan township, more than 200 farmers were harvesting potatoes.

Farmers harvest potatoes in Xueshan township, Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

"This year, the potato planting area at the base stands at 4,710 mu, and currently, potatoes on more than 2,200 mu of land have been harvested," said Guan Shaogang, head of the cooperative. Guan mentioned that the base's total potato production will exceed 11,000 tonnes, with a total output value at around 18 million yuan (about $2.55 million) this year.

Photo shows newly harvested potatoes in the fields in Xueshan township, Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Xueshan township is among the numerous potato growing regions in Weining. With an average elevation of 2,200 meters, Weining is renowned as a "sunshine city," with a potato planting history spanning over 400 years.

Farmers harvest potatoes in Xueshan township, Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

In recent years, the county has invested a great deal of effort to promote potato cultivation on contiguous farmland through the adoption of machinery, and boost the potato industrial chain.

Currently, the potato industry has become a pillar industry of the county, making Weining a major potato producing region in Guizhou. This year, the potato planting area in the county stands at 1.5 million mu, with a projected comprehensive output value of 4 billion yuan.

Weining has constructed a research and development (R&D) base covering an area of 150 mu for the cultivation of high-quality virus-free potato seedlings. The base cultivates around 150 million seedlings annually.

The county has also advanced the construction of a key laboratory. Weining is set to establish a virus-free seed potato supervision, inspection and test center by 2025, ensuring thorough quality control of seed potatoes.

In 2024, the county established 10 demonstration bases for mechanized potato planting, completed the construction of two plots for the cultivation of potatoes, with each covering an area of 10,000 mu, and set up 10 demonstration sites, with each spanning 1,000 mu.

A farmer harvests potatoes in Ertang township, Weining Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (People's Daily Online/Tu Min)

Currently, Weining has two potato processing enterprises. The potato processing system is well-developed in the county, processing over 50,000 tonnes of fresh potatoes annually.

Integrating the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and reaching thousands of households, Weining's potato planting is more scaled, production is more standardized, and processing is more refined, setting a shining example of rural revitalization in China.