For the Chinese potato trade campaign 2020/21, which runs from September to August, available domestic harvest volumes will amount to 99 million tonnes.
This value represents an increase of 3% over the estimated 96 tons of the 2019/20 season.
The average wholesale price for potatoes in 2019 was 2.4 yuan/kg (0.26 euros/kg), 11% higher than the previous year and the highest of the last 6 years. According to the experts, the price increase is in line with the widespread increase in the price of Chinese vegetables in 2019. In addition, the quality of potato cultivation has also improved.
According to China’s 2020 Agricultural Outlook Report, the cultivated area of Chinese potatoes will increase by an average of l0.4% per year over the next ten years. According to the report, potato is an important crop to improve producers’ incomes, especially in less developed mountainous areas. Yield per hectare will increase by an average of 0.5% per year by improving farming methods and due to the more widespread use of virus-free planting potatoes. As a result, potato production will increase by an average of 0.9% per year over the next ten years, according to the report.
Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan are the largest potato-producing provinces and account for nearly 60% of total production. There are four main potato growing areas in China: the north with only one harvest per year; the southwest with areas of one and the other of two harvests per year; the central area with two harvests per year; winter growing area.
