In Dingxi, Gansu Province — known as “China’s Potato Capital” — the busy season for propagation and selection of pre-elite (mini-tubers) and elite seed potatoes is underway. Virus-free plantlets, considered the “microchip” of the potato, must grow in sterile conditions. Each plantlet can be propagated only a limited number of times and must be re-cultured from explants every one to two years to ensure genetic purity. In 2025, seed potato enterprises in Dingxi produced 18.13 billion mini-tubers, supplying potato-growing regions across China and exporting to multiple Belt and Road Initiative countries and regions.
As shown in images from March 29, workers at the Juxin Forage Farmers’ Cooperative in Anding District are sorting and bagging elite seed potatoes. In the tissue culture room of the potato industrial park in Xiaochakou Village, technicians are carrying out virus-free plantlet propagation for mini-tubers. Meanwhile, in the potato greenhouses, staff exchange planting experience and monitor the growth of pre-elite seed potatoes. These activities highlight Dingxi’s high-tech seed potato system, which underpins both domestic food security and international export capacity.
