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| 03 jul 2013 |
01:56 |
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Potato Crops for Poor Rural Chinese Farmers
The province of Gansu in China has in the past been considered one of the most impoverished areas in China. It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east. With a population of approximately 26 million people, Gansu is home to many Chinese of the Muslim religion. Dingxi, located in Gansu, is considered the highest quality production area for potatoes.
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Over the last ten years or so, Dingxi has been noticed for their “special soil” that contains plentiful minerals which are perfect for the support of potato harvest. Since then, Dingxi has changed their impoverished image and began to develop an area of economic improvement. Dingxi can attribute a lot of their success to the high elevation and consistent warm temperature of the land. Due to a combination of these environmental factors, Gansu’s success has assisted China in their position as one of the largest potato producers in the world and maintains its name as the potato capital of China. Dingxi maintains distribution of these potatoes to Hong Kong and the residual provinces in China.
Dingxi supports almost 17,000 acres in crops which generates an annual income per farmers of approximately 1000 Yuan. Although this figure converts into only $200 (CAD), it is a very large economic improvement for the people of Dingxi.
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