Potato planting may play an important role in minimizing the losses incurred by crippling drought and shrinking arable land in China, according to agriculture experts.

But the government needs to provide subsidies for farmers to persuade them to make the switch to potato farming, they argue.

"The potato is more drought-resistant than rice and wheat, which suits China better as 60 percent of the country's arable land is dry," said Qu Dongyu, a potato farming specialist with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

China suffers from a shortage of 30 billion cubic meters of water for irrigation every year and the overall water supply for irrigation purposes will reach a plateau by 2030 even as demand increases, according to an official responsible for water resources planning.

"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 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"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," he said.

A lack of advanced technology aside, China's arable land decreased 1.23 million hectares every year between 2001 and 2005 due to water shortages. However, rice farmers face hefty initial outlays to switch to potato farming and many in arid areas prefer to gamble on being able to conquer the effects of drought rather than change their crop.

"The problem of promoting potato planting lies in the high price of the certified seeds," said Cheng Yingguo, director of the food crop technology division in the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

"Certified potato seeds, which can increase the output by 30 to 50 percent, cost 3,000 yuan to 4,500 yuan for one hectare," Cheng said

Ordinary seeds are vulnerable to diseases, which means the average potato yield per hectare in China stands at only 14 tons, two tons lower than the world average, he said.

The MOA has waged campaigns since 2003 to promote potato planting by providing new technologies but Cheng believes it is not enough.

"Besides technologies, the government needs to provide initial investments and subsidies for potato farmers to make things work," he said. (one U.S. dollar is equal to 7.57 yuan)

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2007)