Seed Potato, the "root" of Chinese potato industry

At the end of July 2012, with the advent of the China Potato Conference, all parties in the potato industry chain had traveled thousands of miles to Wulanchabu, Inner Mongolia to make this quiet northern town especially exciting, as it has been exceptional in recent years. The lively potato industry.

Since the 1990s, China has become the world’s largest potato producer, accounting for one-fourth of the world’s total area. The total output accounts for one-fifth of the world’s total, and its area and production rank first in the world. In recent years, the growing area and output of potato in China have maintained an overall growth trend. The planting area has increased from about 62 million mu in 2006 to about 80 million mu, and the output has also increased from about 63 million tons in 2006 to the current level. About 81.5 million tons.

However, under the flourishing surface, the Chinese potato industry still faces many problems that restrict the development of the industry, such as insufficient investment, low standardization, and low scale. The seed potato link, which is the root of the industry, is even more problematic.

The foundation is weak, the supply shortage is <br> <br> seed yield directly depends. At present, the level of potato production in China is about 1 ton. According to experts' estimation, the theoretical yield of potato is 8-16 tons. In New Zealand, which has the highest level of world yields, the yield per mu has reached 3 tons. The level of yield in China is far behind that of New Zealand, the United States, and the Netherlands.

The low yield per unit is directly related to the unfavorable promotion of virus-free seed potatoes. Detoxified seed potatoes can increase production by an average of 50% to 150%, or even up to 200% to 300%. However, the supply of potato virus-free seed potatoes in China is seriously insufficient. It is expected that the annual demand for potato virus-free seed potatoes in China is expected to reach 540 kilotons by 2013, but the current actual supply is far short of demand. Since the virus-free seed potato industry in China is in an immature stage, there are problems such as non-standard breeding, uneven quality, and small seed potato breeding scale. It is imperative to build an advanced virus-free seed potato breeding base with advanced technology.

Over the years, the Ministry of Agriculture has successively implemented seed projects, agricultural science and technology introduction and innovation, and comprehensive agricultural development projects. It has established a number of potato improvement centers, detoxification centers, and rapid propagation bases throughout the country. The current annual production capacity of micro-tubers is 1 billion. About 25% of the application rate of virus-free seed potatoes has been bred to more than 320 new varieties with independent intellectual property rights, of which more than 90 are widely promoted varieties.

Some local governments also strongly support the potato as a specialty advantage industry, including Wulanchabu, Inner Mongolia. In order to build Wulanchabu City into a “Chinese potato capital”, the municipal government attached great importance to the local potato industry layout and enterprise development. The Secretary of Wang Xuefeng in Urumqi personally directed the development of the potato industry in Urumqi to the vertical industry chain, and focused on selecting several excellent potato companies to work together to form a horizontal, joint, and vertical development of the entire industry chain, rapidly building seed production and storage logistics. , deep processing of the three leading enterprises, and strive to all the listing of two to five years.

It is with the support of the government that a number of outstanding potato seed potato companies have grown rapidly. Take, for example, Inner Mongolia Minfeng Potato Industry Co., Ltd., which was newly selected as the fifth batch of key agricultural industrialization leading enterprises in 2012. Only four years after the establishment of the company, it has independently cultivated a new species represented by "Minfeng Hong." Today, Minfeng potato industry can produce 50 million virus-free seedlings throughout the year, produce 250 million grains of original quality seeds, produce 50,000 tons of original seeds, and realize large-scale production, but it is huge for the Chinese potato industry for virus-free vaccines. Demand, this output is still a glass of water.

Lack of money is the primary reason that restricts the scale of the company. "Insufficient investment has led to insufficient scale." Zhang Guo, Chairman of Minfeng Potato Industry, said bluntly. It is understood that in recent years, governments at all levels have used state project funds, policy subsidies, and discounted loans to increase investment in the seed industry year by year, but they are still very limited compared to actual demand. Due to a serious shortage of investment, companies have lost many business opportunities due to their inability to scale up. Mr. Zhang Guo did not distress the introduction: “Without funds, banks are built in key areas of the country. Our potatoes cannot be connected with agricultural supermarkets in central cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, and docking in agricultural schools.” Compared to the loss of business opportunities. In terms of the shortage of funds, the more direct danger is that the potato seed potatoes harvested in the autumn may not have enough mechanical equipment to be put into storage in time, or be frozen outside the ground because there is no warehouse.

Confusion in the market, fakes hold sway <br> <br> more terrible than the money is the seed potato industry, the lack of market access mechanism and effective regulation, the industry, "Li Gui," flooding, big spoiler, so that the vicious competition seriously, "Li Kui "We are shocked step by step. Due to the rapid growth in potato market demand in recent years, there are more and more companies operating seed potatoes. The main force is naturally small workshops and self-employed people lacking technical capabilities and operating capabilities. Take Ulan Qab as an example. Despite the fact that it is a big potato planting industry, in this “land of shots”, dozens of companies actually operate seed potato business. The standardized seed potato companies not only face higher breeding costs, but are also chased by popular counterfeits. "The state can not only encourage the development of this industry, but also must vigorously regulate and supervise, otherwise it is the end of 'bad money drive the good currency'," said Mr. Bai Yongping, vice president of Minfeng Potato Industry. “It's like being on the bus, if everyone doesn’t line up, people who line up can't get up. In the market, if an immoral business operator quickly occupies the market, an ethical company will lose or be forced to leave This is a serious threat to the potato industry."

Price shocks, battered <br> <br> potato price fluctuations in recent years has let this fragile industry is injured, the upper reaches of the seed industry can not avoid being dragged down. In 2010, the price of potatoes soared. The retail price in some regions even surpassed 3 yuan per catty. Rejoicing in the industry, outside the industry just around the corner, coal bosses, real estate speculators and other capital sources smelled the tempting taste of potatoes to start the Nuggets. However, excessive input led to the oversupply of potatoes in 2011, and the “difficulty in selling potatoes” has become a news hot spot. The price has plummeted and even dropped to less than RMB 1 per catty. The potato has changed from "Golden Peas" to "Potato Yours." Like the weakness after a high fever, the Chinese potato industry, whose "body" was originally not robust, suffered even more from this torment.

In a series of links from breeding to planting and processing. Planting, as a part of the entire industrial chain that has yet to achieve industrialization, is undoubtedly the most vulnerable and has the greatest risk. Therefore, in the event of a price shock such as a shock, the company can't afford to hurt, and the peasants can't hold it. The potato cultivation area in Ulanqab City in 2012 has been reduced by approximately 20%.

As we all know, there is no development in the planting industry, there is no market for breeding, and raw materials are not available for processing and fresh food. If the planters do not have a reasonable profit and the interests of the farmers and cooperatives are not guaranteed, no one will be willing to plant the land and the whole industrial chain will be in danger of being cut off. Obviously, the backwardness of the planting industry has become the “yoke” of the development of seed potato companies in the upstream, and has become the “yoke” of the entire industry. Bai Yongping, deputy general manager of Minfeng Potato Industry Co., Ltd., pointed out: “Now it is a good time when everyone is rushing to plant seeds. When it is not good, no one grows. Disordered cultivation exacerbates price fluctuations, and prices have skyrocketed and plunge, causing damage to the industry. Therefore, the long-term plan is to organize planting in a planned manner, that is, the transformation of the spontaneous mode into the ordering mode, which is the direction of future development. In addition, warehousing is also an important factor to stabilize prices.” And warehousing is precisely the Chinese potato industry. Another soft rib.

Warehousing difficulties to be solved <br> <br> storage losses over the years has been plagued by the development of China's potato industry "bottleneck", the loss rate of more than 25%. The backwardness of storage conditions not only caused a huge waste, but also became an “accomplice” of price fluctuations. The fundamental reason for selling potatoes in 2011 is that the storage conditions are limited. After harvesting, potatoes must be flocked to the market in a short period of time. The demand of the market is stable and difficult to digest. The so-called “selling difficulties” will occur. . People in the industry are aware that only by accelerating industrialization, improving warehousing, deep processing, etc., can the problem be solved and the problem solved fundamentally. However, the traditional potato storage warehouse has obvious defects: high construction cost, long construction period, large energy consumption, high loss rate, and low storage efficiency. Therefore, the research and development of new potato storage technology is a national issue that needs urgent solution.

Just two days before the China Potato Conference, Inner Mongolia Minfeng Potato Industry Co., Ltd. launched a potato storage technology research and development library. The R&D library was built in cooperation with the Dutch Potato Center and is the first domestic case. To this end, Mr. Ou Fuxu, agricultural counselor of the Dutch Embassy, ​​personally congratulated on the scene and said: “The two countries have already cooperated in potatoes since 1995 and have successfully operated a number of cooperation projects for more than 20 years. I am very happy. See today's cooperation has entered a new stage of more modernization and industrialization."

The cooperation between the Minfeng Potato Industry and the Netherlands had already landed three years ago, and a 70,000-ton intelligent ventilation storage warehouse was launched, reducing the potato bank loss rate from 30% to below 10%. This R&D bank is obviously a big move after tasting the “sweetness”.

Despite many obstacles and difficulties, we still saw that the industrialists are actively exploring the way out, and senior experts also gave sound advice. Huang Dezheng, general manager of AEG Agriculture, pointed out: “The current status of China's potato industry is scattered, chaotic, and bad. To achieve a win-win situation, we must take a joint approach. First, the backbone enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, including planting companies, cooperatives, etc., must form interests. Community, and then to achieve industrial cooperation, the use of financial capital support, and finally the formation of industrial clusters. This is a point-to-line, line-to-face process." And as the industry's "root" of the seed potato link, not only need policy support The need to standardize a good market environment, but also the need to join the upstream and downstream industrial chain, is indeed a long way to go. However, according to Mr. Huang Dejun’s prediction, the potato industry cluster will be realized in China in the next 8-10 years.