Potatoes were scattered only in isolated mountainous areas in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Its adaptation to the cold and barren land made potatoes a food for the civilians to relieve the famine in the southwestern China and its adjacent areas in the middle and late Qing Dynasty,which also provided a large number of immigrants with food security for the Qing government to implement and consolidate the national governance system of “replacement of chieftains with centrally-appointed non-hereditary officials” in the southwestern China. Its high-yield characteristics make the development of potatoes an important measure to ensure the supplies for the civilian and army during the Anti-Japanese War. Since 1950,the area,production and output value of the potato have continued to increase as the national economic development plans implemented. Its contribution to the total output value of staple crops is averagely above two times of its cultivation proportion. The potato industry will further take its unique biological advantages and highlight its important strategic position in ensuring national food security,agricultural efficiency and meeting demand-side food diversification and health needs.