China studies humble potato as way to beat drought

BEIJING (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 on Tuesday.

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 percent 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 meters 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."