"Comprehensive" Brand Potatoes

"Comprehensive" Brand Potatoes

　　The potato (Solanum tuberosum; potato) is a plant of the genus Solanum in the nightshade family. It is a perennial herb but is cultivated as an annual or biennial. Its underground tubers come in round, oval, or egg-like shapes, with "eyes" or buds, and have skins that are red, yellow, white, or purple. The tubers are edible. In various parts of China, potatoes are known by different names: they are called 土豆 (tǔdòu) in the Northeast, 山药蛋 (shānyàodàn) in North China, 洋芋 (yángyù) in Northwest China, 洋番芋 (yángfānyù) in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, and 薯仔 (shǔzǎi) in Guangdong and Hong Kong.

Potatoes are currently one of the most important staple food crops in the world, aside from cereals, primarily consumed for their underground tubers. They are widely cultivated globally, with thousands of varieties developed. Potatoes are highly adaptable to different soils but thrive best in cool, cold, and dry climates. Although they can grow in hot and humid regions, their varieties tend to degenerate after one generation, necessitating regular introduction of new potato seeds from colder areas.

The "Comprehensive" brand potatoes from Keshan County have been certified as Grade A green food by the National Green Food Development Center. There are 32 green food production bases, covering 770,000 mu of green cultivation area, along with 3.2 million heads (or individuals) of green livestock, and 960 green food processing enterprises are emerging. In 2000, the county became an ecological demonstration county at the provincial level, and in 2001, it was approved as a pilot county for national ecological demonstration zone construction.