A global journey of potatoes

From the first "walking" out of the American continent more than 400 years ago to successfully "settling" in more than 150 countries and regions today, from an unknown crop to playing a "key role" in global agriculture, economy and food security, potatoes have successfully made up for the shortcomings of "appearance" with extremely rich nutritional value and super adaptability to the natural environment, becoming "the world's most successful immigrant"
.

In many countries and regions, potatoes are the protagonists
of gastronomic topics.
In China, shredded green pepper potatoes are the most familiar home-cooked dish; In the United States, fries are standard in Western-style fast food; In Germany, potato dumplings are a classic Christmas dinner side dish.
.
.

In fact, the importance of potatoes goes far beyond the food itself
.
It is the fourth largest food crop in the world after wheat, maize and rice, and it is also the basic food
for human survival.
From the Arabian Peninsula to the Amazon rainforest, from seaside towns to highland mountains, from 65 degrees north latitude to 50 degrees south latitude, potatoes can be seen in all corners of the earth
.

Out of South America

About 8,000 years ago, Indians in the Andes of South America "domesticated"
potatoes.
Locals call this crop "Barbas", which means "food of life"
.

Until the 16th century, the potato was an unknown crop until the Great Discoveries changed its fate
.

More than 400 years ago, the Spaniards came to the South American continent with strong ships and cannons, ending the Inca Empire
.
The colonists brought crops such as potatoes back to Europe
as trophies.
For the first time in history, the potato "walked" out of the American continent and began its global journey
.

Potatoes that first arrived in Europe were not popular
.
From the point of view of "appearance", potatoes are indeed almost meaningful, plus their "poor origin", so they are not less discriminated against
by Europeans.
However, potatoes finally rewrote their "life"
with their strong adaptability to the natural environment.

Potatoes are drought-tolerant, barren-tolerant, have low requirements for water and fertilizer, short planting cycle, high yield, and long shelf life, making them a good choice
for farmers who lack fertile land.

In the Hollywood movie The Martian, the surviving astronauts get enough food
by growing potatoes on Mars.
It's not all the whim of the
screenwriters.
Scientific studies have shown that potatoes are one of the most suitable crops to survive in outer space, and potato seeds have been sent into space many times for breeding experiments
.

Another great advantage of potatoes is their high
nutritional value.
It is an excellent nutrient collection, rich in various vitamins and trace elements
needed by the human body in addition to carbohydrates and proteins.
Its vitamin content is the most comprehensive
of all food crops.
Studies have shown that 100 grams of potatoes provide half
of a person's recommended daily intake of vitamin C.
In addition, potatoes are also rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium and other elements
.

Reach the world

Later, Europeans also discovered the advantages
of potatoes.
In the face of real needs, the prejudices of the past gave way
.

The Irish benefited early on from the large-scale cultivation
of potatoes.
At that time, most of Ireland's fertile land was occupied by British colonists, and Irish farmers could only cultivate relatively barren land
.
In Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries, just one acre of potato fields and one cow could feed the nutritional needs
of a family of six to eight.
By the end of the 18th century, potatoes had become Ireland's main food crop
.
Ireland, which solved the problem of food and clothing, ushered in a rapid increase in population and economic prosperity
.

However, potatoes, while giving gifts to the Irish, also unwittingly caused a disaster
.
In order to fight hunger, the Irish began to grow potato varieties with higher yields in large quantities, resulting in a gradual simplification of the local food structure and a sharp decline
in risk resistance.
In 1845, Irish potatoes suffered a fungal infection and died of massive wilt
.
Mass famine broke out in Ireland, lacking alternative food, and some 1.
1 million Irish people died
.

A little later than Ireland, potatoes also began to expand on the continent
.
First the Netherlands, Belgium, then Germany, Poland, and by the 40s of the 19th century, potatoes
were also grown in Russia.

Unlike Irish farmers who generally grew potatoes spontaneously, on the European continent, the spread of potatoes was driven more by national forces
.

For example, potatoes were not widely received
when they were first introduced to the Kingdom of Prussia.
King Frederick II of Prussia realized the advantages of potatoes and immediately issued the "Germanic Potato Cultivation Decree", which made it mandatory for potato cultivation, and farmers who did not comply with the law would be severely punished
.
This initiative has greatly increased the popularity of
potatoes in the local area.
Frederick II is also known as the "potato king of Europe"
.
To this day, fresh potatoes are often placed in front of Frederick II's tombstone to commemorate his contribution to
potato promotion.

History also proves Frederick
II's foresight.
A few years after the potato decree was promulgated, war broke out between Prussia and other countries, and a large number of surface crops were destroyed by the war, except for potatoes
hidden deep in the ground.
Potatoes also became the "heroes"
who helped the Prussians survive the famine.

Seeing the important role played by potatoes in Prussia's post-war recovery, more and more countries began to take steps to promote potato cultivation in their own countries to deal with possible risks
.

Since then, similar scenes have played out
in European history.
In his paper "How the Potato Changed World History," historian William McNeill writes that because potatoes were so important during wars, every war in Europe from 1560 until World War II contributed to the growth
of potato cultivation.

By the early 19th century, potatoes had become an important food reserve
in Europe.
From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, the population of Europe almost doubled
from 140 million to 270 million.
Many historians believe that the large-scale cultivation of potatoes was an important driver of rapid population growth in Europe during this period
.

Outside of Europe, potatoes followed in the footsteps of colonists and took root
.
In the 18th century, in West Java, Indonesia, potatoes were called "Dutch potatoes"; At the end of the 19th century, potatoes entered Vietnam and were known locally as "Western tubers"
.

After 400 years of "global travel", potatoes have now "settled" in more than 150 countries and regions, with an annual production of more than 300 million tons
.
It's no wonder that food historian Rebecca Earle calls potatoes "the most successful immigrant in the world.
"

Continue to write wonderfully

With humans to this day, the role of potatoes in different countries and regions has diverged
.
In developed countries, the commercial potential of potatoes has been fully tapped, and there are more than 300 kinds of foods processed from potatoes, and thousands of starch deep-processed products are made
.
In less developed countries, the most important role of potatoes is still to solve the problem of
food and clothing.

However, in recent years, the "pressure" of potatoes has been a bit great
.
With the rising cost of agricultural production materials such as pesticides and fertilizers, the return rate of potato cultivation in many regions is declining, especially in less developed areas
.
For example, the average potato yield in Papua New Guinea in 1981 was 7.
4 tonnes
per hectare.
By 2005, this figure had fallen to 4.
5 tonnes
due to the inability of local farmers to optimize planting.

In order to better exploit the potential of potatoes and help underdeveloped countries solve the problem of food and clothing, the international community has made many attempts and efforts
.

In 1971, the International Potato Center was established in Lima, Peru, with one of its missions being to preserve the genetic resources
of potatoes in the Andes.
The head of the center has said that in this era of "grain standard", the role of potatoes is greatly underestimated
.
There are more than 7,000 endemic and wild relatives in the central gene bank, with a wide variety of traits, adaptability to different production environments, and resistance to a variety of pests and diseases
.
The center has also set up a team of experts to promote scientific potato cultivation methods
around the world.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2008 as the International Year of the Potato, which aims to help people recognize the "critical role" that potatoes play in agriculture, the economy and world food security, promote the sustainable development of potato-based crop systems, enhance the welfare of potato growers and consumers around the world, and realize the full potential
of potatoes as the "food of the future".

With the joint efforts of all parties, potato production has increased
year after year in recent years.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations believes that when cereal crop yields are approaching the limit, potatoes will become one of
the preferred crops for the global food security system.
Through a focus on increasing yields, the world's total potato production will increase to 500 million tons in 2025 and 750 million tons
in 2030.

In this way, the global journey of potatoes is far from over
.
The story between potatoes and humans, there are many wonderful possibilities
.