Aug 10 (Nikkei) - Faced with having to stabilize the supply of potatoes for its chips, Japanese snack maker Calbee is increasing the amount of the crop it grows in rice fields. Paddy-field potatoes are mainly grown in Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, but Calbee also plans to start cultivating them in the northern regions of Hokkaido and Tohoku.
Potatoes are traditionally grown in dry-soil fields, but the company will now grow more of the crop in better-drained rice fields with higher ridges. Crop yields per area will remain unchanged, despite both rice and potatoes being grown in the same place.
