Journal of Energy Bioscience 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 128-138 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 128 Research Insight Open Access Reducing the Environmental Impact of Potato Farming through Sustainable Practices ZeHuang1, Wenzhong Huang2 1 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, China; 2 Biomass Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025,Hainan, China Corresponding email: wenzhong.huang@hitar.org Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2025, Vol.16, No.3 doi: 10.5376/jeb.2025.16.0013 Received: 03 Apr., 2025 Accepted: 11 May, 2025 Published: 27 May, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Huang and Huang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Huang Z., and Huang W.Z., 2025, Reducing the environmental impact of potato farming through sustainable practices, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 16(3): 128-138 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2025.16.0013) Abstract Potato is an important food crop in the world. It has a strong genetic basis and adaptability, and can be sustainably cultivated under different climate and soil conditions. By optimizing nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation management, using microbial agents and organic cultivation methods, nitrogen surplus, greenhouse gas emissions and pesticide use can be significantly reduced while maintaining yield. In some areas of the Netherlands and China, field monitoring and life cycle assessment showed that some fields successfully achieved high yields, low nitrogen surpluses and less pesticide use, and greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by more than 48%. The use of microorganisms and organic cultivation can also further reduce CO2 emissions and improve soil quality, but economic feasibility remains an issue. Regional differences, farmers' knowledge level and economic barriers are the main difficulties in promoting sustainable practices. To address these issues, customized technical guidance should be provided and policy incentives should be used to support promotion, providing a scientific basis and practical solutions for the potato industry to achieve balanced development between the environment and the economy. Keywords Potato cultivation; Sustainable agriculture; Environmental impact; Genetic origin; Case study 1 Introduction Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the fourth largest staple food in the world, with high yield, strong adaptability and rich nutrition. Therefore, it is widely planted in many parts of the world, such as China, India, Russia, Europe and America (Wang et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2024b). As the population continues to increase, people's eating habits are also changing, and the demand for potatoes is also rising, which has promoted the continuous expansion of planting area and yield. Since China began to implement the "potato staple food" policy in 2015, the role of potatoes in food security, diet improvement and farmers' income has become increasingly obvious (Wang et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022). Because potatoes have strong adaptability to climate and soil, they can achieve high yields in many different ecological environments (Li et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2024b). Potato cultivation now faces some problems. Long-term high-intensity farming, coupled with insufficient crop rotation, will destroy soil structure, cause organic matter loss, lead to a decrease in soil fertility, and affect the sustainable use of land (Timpanaro et al., 2021; Morugán-Coronado et al., 2024). Potatoes require more water, especially in arid or semi-arid areas. Excessive irrigation will cause water resource shortages and may also cause soil salinization and groundwater decline (Wang et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022; Ravensbergen et al., 2024). In major producing areas such as China and the Netherlands, nitrogen fertilizer use is generally high, which will cause nitrogen loss and increase greenhouse gas emissions (Wang et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022; Di et al., 2024; Ravensbergen et al., 2024). Excessive use of pesticides will also put pressure on the ecosystem, affecting biodiversity and soil microorganisms (Kumar et al., 2023a; Morugán-Coronado et al., 2024; Ollio et al., 2025). In contrast, the carbon emissions and environmental costs of conventional farming methods are much higher than those of organic farming or optimized management (Kumar et al., 2023a; Zhang et al., 2024b). The goal of sustainable agriculture is to ensure both production and income while minimizing the impact on the environment (Timpanaro et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2021; Kumar et al., 2023a; Di et al., 2024; Morugán-Coronado et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2024b; Ollio et al., 2025).
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