China studies humble potato as way to beat drought
BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) Chinese farming experts are considering planting potatoes instead of rice and wheat as a way to beat crippling drought each year, state media said today.
But the government would have to provide subsidies to persuade farmers to make the switch, they said.
''The potato is more drought-resistant than rice and wheat, which suits China better as 60 per cent of the country's arable land is dry,'' Qu Dongyu, a potato farming specialist with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.
China, widely hit by summer floods, also suffers from a shortage of 30 billion cubic metres of water for irrigation every year.
''The potato is not only more nutritious, potato yields per hectare weigh three to four times more than other crops,'' said Chen Fan, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology.
''The
yield
per
unit
of
rice,
corn
and
wheat
is
not
expected
to
increase
due
to
technology
limitations,
which
means
the
potato
is
a
better
option
to
meet
the
food
demand
of
1.3
billion
people.''
REUTERS
CS
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