"Good retail conditions encourage expansion of Guangxi sweet potato plantations"

"Guangxi is one of China's main production areas for sweet potatoes. The retail conditions for sweet potatoes were exceptionally good in 2017, and this stimulated local farmers to greatly expand sweet potato plantation. According to our estimates the surface area devoted to sweet potato plantations increased by around 40% in 2018. The product varieties that sold the best in 2017 were A Little Red, Watermelon Red, and Heart Fragrance. Different from recent years, however, were the conditions for purple sweet potatoes last year. The conditions were the worst for several years." This is according to Mr. Pan Mingfu of Guangxi Fuchuan Fu He Sweet Potato Co., Ltd.

"There were two main reasons for the depressed retail conditions of purple sweet potato in 2017: first, the surface area devoted to the plantation of purple sweet potato in the south has seen great expansion in recent years, and still increases every year. The production volume of sweet potatoes reached a peak volume last year. Second, many consumers believe without reservation that purple sweet potatoes are a "genetically engineered" product and these consumers are unwilling to buy them."

"As far as the major production areas of sweet potatoes in the north and the south are concerned, sweet potato production in the north is mechanized to a high degree, while sweet potato production in the south relies heavily on manual labor. This has efficiently lowered the overall cost of sweet potato plantation in the north. The price of sweet potatoes in production areas in the north is lower than the price of sweet potatoes in production areas in the south as a result of this mechanization. Therefore, it is obvious that as far as price is concerned the south does not hold the upper hand.

However, we should also take into consideration that the production season in the north is relatively short. The production season starts every year after Mid-Autumn Festival [October 4th, 2017] and lasts until the beginning of November. Guangdong and Guangxi production areas strategically grow sweet potatoes during the off-season to avoid overlap with the supply season in the north. The sweet potatoes from Guangdong and Guangxi enter the market annually in early November and the supply continues until May in the following year."

"Our sweet potatoes come from Jiazhou in Guangxi. We sell our sweet potatoes through online and offline channels in supermarkets and wholesale markets in first and second tier cities in the mainland and in Hong Kong. We currently have the right weather conditions to plant sweet potatoes. We are also looking for suitable partners in Laos to cooperate with. We hope to establish many different ways of cooperation, so we can realize a situation where we share and enjoy natural resources together."