Experts from six countries make suggestions for Zhaotong potato industry

International experts proposed suggestions for the development of potato industry in Zhaotong City during the 2019 Zhaotong International Seed Potato Summit held recently. Meanwhile, local companies signed contracts with international traders. In the coming future, 132 tons (291 thousand pounds) of potatoes will be sold to Myanmar, Syria and Egypt.

These experts are from Canada, Bangladesh, Jordan, Vietnam, Myanmar and Colombia. During the event, they visited potato planting bases in Zhaotong and carried out technical exchanges with local farmers. They exchanged views on the development trend of international potato industry.

The climatic condition of Zhaotong is similar to that in the Andes Mountains, the origin place of potatoes. Therefore, Zhaotong is one of the most suitable areas for potato planting. The potato cultivation history of the city is more than two centuries old. 

As of now, Zhaotong has cultivated six new potato species and set up a cultivation base. The city is planning to expand the potato-planting area to 320 million mu (52.7 thousand acres) by 2020.

Text and photos by Xie Yi; trans-editing by Li Hengqiang