China: Northern Potato Harvest Advances, With Yields Reported Up to 4 Tonnes per Mu

The main potato harvest is under way across northern and western China. Official and local media reports from 18 to 25 September describe busy fields in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Gansu.

Hebei and Inner Mongolia

In the Saibei management district of Zhangjiakou, Hebei, farmers planted 52,300 mu of potatoes, or about 3,490 hectares. The expected output value is 251 million yuan, Xinhua reported on 19 September.

In Wuchuan County, Inner Mongolia, the harvest lasts nearly a month. Machines lift the tubers, and workers sort them in the field. Large tubers go into bags for storage. Small tubers go to local factories for starch, according to Xinhua. Many seasonal workers come from Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan.

Qinghai

In Huangzhong District near Xining, Qinghai, 122,800 mu of potatoes are being harvested, about 8,190 hectares. The early variety V7 yields about 4,000 kg per mu, the Xihai Metropolis Daily reported. More than 90% of the tubers are large. The district sells about 150,000 tonnes of fresh potatoes a year. Buyers are in Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Inner Mongolia. The main varieties include: V7, Longshu 17, Qingshu 9, Qingshu 2.

Xinjiang and Gansu

In Baicheng County, Xinjiang, Laohutai township grows 58,000 mu of potatoes, and the whole county grows 97,500 mu. One large grower told China News Service that his yield is about 4.5 tonnes per mu. That is 500 kg more than last year. He sells to a local starch plant under contract.

In Shandan County, Gansu, a base of more than 13,000 mu is being harvested. The county grows 98,700 mu in total. More than 80% of the crop was sold in advance under purchase contracts, China Gansu Net reported. Part of the crop goes to Vietnam and South Korea.

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The reports show a large, mostly mechanised crop in the north and west. Contract farming is common: many growers sell to starch plants or have orders before harvest. Buyers of fresh potatoes and starch should expect ample supply this autumn. Yield figures come from local reports and single growers, not from national statistics, so they describe the best fields rather than average yields.

Photo: Mechanised potato harvest in Inner Mongolia, northern China (illustrative). Grimme Pawg / Wikimedia Commons, CC LOS NTAWM 2.0