China’s potato staple food strategy (2015–2025): a critical review of achievements, constraints, and future pathways

Mu Z.; Yang S.; Hao S.; Guo H.; Cortez Juro I.; Wang J. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems (2026) · DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1896618

Resumen

China launched the Potato Staple Food Strategy in 2015 to reposition potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) from a regional vegetable and subsistence crop to a complementary staple within the national food system. This short review synthesizes evidence from 2015 to 2025 on production, breeding, processing, policy implementation, and market adoption. The strategy has increased the visibility of potato in food-security planning, supported production in marginal and water-limited regions, and encouraged research on whole-flour products, processing cultivars, and advanced breeding. However, staple-food transformation remains incomplete. Persistent constraints include the high cost and low multiplication efficiency of tuber-based seed systems, insufficient staple-specific varieties, unstable processing quality, high dehydration and logistics costs, limited consumer acceptance, and fragmented policy incentives. Compared with cereal staples, potato has advantages in fresh-weight productivity, water-use efficiency, and micronutrient supply, but these advantages do not translate automatically into staple-food competitiveness. Future work should shift from policy description to measurable assessment of dry-matter yield, processing conversion, life-cycle impacts, sensory acceptance, and reserve-policy feasibility. China–Latin America cooperation offers a strategic route for linking Andean genetic diversity with China’s breeding and processing capacity. The next phase should therefore treat potato not as a replacement for rice, wheat, or maize, but as a resilient, regionally targeted, and nutritionally valuable component of a diversified staple-food system. Copyright