Anyue Sweet Potatoes

Anyue Sweet Potatoes

　　Anyue sweet potatoes are a specialty of Anyue County, Ziyang City, Sichuan Province. The county focuses on increasing farmers' income by vigorously developing the distinctive and advantageous sweet potato industry.

　　Sweet potatoes (also known as yams, batata, or white potatoes) are an ancient tuber crop. During cultivation, they are grown with almost no pesticide use and minimal chemical fertilizer; due to their high content of dietary fiber, they have unique benefits in preventing constipation, fighting cancer, and protecting against cardiovascular diseases, earning them the titles “natural green food” and “best nutritional health product.” It is a common local practice and tradition to process sweet potatoes into starch, which is then further made into vermicelli.

　　Anyue is a shallow hilly region, a major agricultural county, and a densely populated county. The perennial planting area of sweet potatoes reaches 600,000 mu, with an annual output of over 1.6 billion jin. Based on the advantages of having the largest sweet potato planting area and yield in the province and abundant rural labor resources, the county government has focused on developing the “sweet potato” industry, forming a sweet potato industrialization system where “the market connects to leading enterprises, leading enterprises connect to large-scale farmers, and large-scale farmers lead smallholder farmers.”

　　The processing of sweet potatoes in Anyue County has begun to take shape on a significant scale. The annual processing volume of fresh sweet potatoes exceeds 700 million jin. Processed products include refined white starch, various types of vermicelli, and instant noodles. There are 120,000 households engaged in sweet potato processing in the county, with over 300,000 workers involved. This includes 28 specialized villages, 310 specialized cooperatives, 70 large-scale vermicelli producers with an annual output of over 50 tons, 530 producers with an output of 25–50 tons, and 700 general large producers. There are two large-scale sweet potato processing enterprises (Sichuan Anyue Ruifa Food Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Xingguo Green Food Co., Ltd.). Four specialized vermicelli markets have been established, including the largest vermicelli market in Southwest China. To promote industrial development, based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit, a closely linked benefit mechanism has been established between processing enterprises and base villages, cooperatives, and farmers. Leading enterprises sign purchase and sales contracts for crude starch and sweet potatoes with base villages, cooperatives, and farmers, and are also responsible for promoting high-quality sweet potato varieties, thus forming a community with shared risks and benefits.