Question：What is the best farmland for planting sweet potato?

Answer：The most important is the place where the sun can shine in. Good drainage is also required.

Question：Can sweet potato be planted at any time?

Answer：It depends on species. Generally speaking, there are two harvests in a year. The first one must be harvested after 150 days, the second one must be harvested after 120 days due to warmer weather.

Question：What should one pay special attention to during planting?

Answer：At the beginning of planting, the seeds should be infused with water within 2 or 3 weeks, otherwise the insect will bite them. Also, we have to loosen the seed to prevent the wild caulis from hindering the growth of sweet potato.

Question：How do you harvest sweet potato?

Answer：The southern Taiwan has wider planting ground, and the farmers there currently use machinery to harvest. The northern Taiwan has relatively smaller planting ground, and thus the farmers there use cattle to plough and harvest. While harvesting, farmers have to divide sweet potato into three categories, big, medium-sized, and small. The big ones will be purchased by distributors and then be sold to the stores or be made into cakes or desserts. The medium-sized ones are used by roasted kilns, whereas the small ones are used to feed pigs, chickens or ducks.

Question：How many yields are there per seed?

Answer：Take Taoyuan No.1 for instance. The sweet potato planted before autumn is bigger. Each seed can not yield many pieces, say about 3 to 4 pieces. The sweet potato planted after autumn is smaller, but with bigger quantity. Each seed may yield as many as more than 10 pieces.

Question：Are all the present species the same as the original ones?

Answer：No, no, no. Farmers have improved almost each and every species. I myself was the leader of the first class of sweet potato distribution course of Bei-Pu Xiang. Taoyuan No.1 is the species improved by Bei-Pu Xiang. There were no species serial numbers available before the restoration of Taiwan. After Taiwan’s restoration, there have been numerous improved species and they have to be numbered. As for usage, sweet potatoes in different places are not necessarily the same. It depends on the demand. Some sweet potatoes are sweet and juicy, but they are too soft to roast kiln nor can they be made into cakes. Taoyuan No. 1 is hard and sweet enough, suitable for roasted kiln.

Question：What is the difference between now and the past regarding planting method?

Answer：They are totally different! Sweet Potato's planting in the past was completely done by hand; loosening soil and grow seeds all relied on cattle and man labor. The planting or the harvesting of today’s farmland is using machinery. It’s a much easier job now compared to the past!

Question：How will sweet potato be if running into natural calamities?

Answer：If inundation due to typhoon continues for over two days, sweet potato would get rotten. If encountering draught, sweet potato will be bitten by insects and as a result won’t be harvested.

Question：When did Uncle Sweet Potato move to Bei-pu? Can you describe the situation at that time?

Answer：My father has lived here since the Japanese occuptation period. Prior to Taiwan’s restoration, I was about 9 years old. We had no rice at that time, sweet potato was our major food. Being afraid of causing fire and also afraid of the roasted sweet potatoes being stolen, we had to be very discreet in roasting the kiln. In view that rice could not be harvested due to constant air raids and gunfire, sweet potato became the major food of each family.

Question：How did the farm change to the present business mode?

Answer：As the farmers of earlier generation were getting older and most young people moved out to make their living, the agricultural society gradually declined and crops were getting less and less. Meanwhile, the government also successively allowed some crops and rice to import from abroad. Considering the local crops’ economic effect and their competitiveness in future, the government encourages farmers to transform their business modes. So, this farm began to transform its business mode under the assistance of the Commission of Agriculture, the improvement fields, and the Agriculture Association of Bei-Pu Xiang in 1998. This farm was run by me alone for the first two years. Starting from the third year when the business got better, I asked my son and my daughter-in-law come back to help me. Thanks to young people’s abilities of using Internet and beautifying packaging, we have achieved a great deal as it is now.

Question：Are the farmers planting sweet potato getting less? How is its economic value?

Answer：Farmers who plant sweet potato are indeed getting fewer, but its economic benefit is quite good. In the past, it was planted to feed pigs. Nowadays, it is sold to people with good margins. Generally speaking, the elder people seldom do exercise; therefore it’s easy for them to get constipation. Sweet potato has abundant fiber, it can accelerate bowel peristalsis and facilitate digestion. To eat sweet potato once a day will help your bowel movement. It’s also reported in the newspapers and magazines that eating sweet potato can prevent cancer and it’s even better to eat with peel.

Question：What’s the origin of kilns?

We attended 2005 Xi-Hu Sweet Potato Culture & Art Festival in Miao-Li on November 19th, 2005, and visited Mr. Wan-Chin Li who was the directive staff of Xi-Hu Farmers’ Association and the host of the said activity. Mr. Li told us that Xi-Hu Xiang started to hold the Sweet Potato Culture & Art Festival four years ago. Xi-Hu Xiang is a small village situated in the hilling area with a population of 8296. Farmers take turns in planting paddy rice and sweet potato. Because of its poor sales ability, sweet potato could not be sold to other places. To increase the popularity of Xi-Hu’s crops, they began to hold “Xi-Hu Sweet Potato Culture & Art Festival”.