The overall surface area devoted to winter potato production decreased this year because the price of potatoes was relatively low last spring and last winter, which reduced the enthusiasm of farmers for potato production. The price of potatoes was only 2.7 yuan [0.39 USD] per kg last year, which was even lower than the 3.4 yuan [0.49 USD] per kg in the previous year.

The potato market last winter and last spring was not great. The price was low and the sales volume small. This was in part because there was still a large reserve of potatoes from the previous year in warehouses in Shandong and Inner Mongolia.

Apart from the smaller surface area devoted to potato production this year, there is also a seasonal influence. The potato planting season is one week later this year than last year, but other than that the season is proceeding regularly. Preliminary data shows that the surface area devoted to potato plantation decreased, which means that production volume is likely to decrease as well.