Tanegashima Annou Imo

"Tanegashima Annou Imo" is a sweet potato with rich, honey-like flavor that takes on sticky texture when heated. Compared to other general fresh sweet potatoes, it has characteristically high sugar content and low starch content.
　Since the 2000s, it has been highly demanded by consumers amidst popularity for sticky baked potatoes in Japan and is traded at a price about 20-50% higher than for general fresh sweet potatoes.

The variety of "Tanegashima Annou Imo" is the variety of Annou Imo recommended by the Promotion Headquarters.
　It is cultivated either by mulch cropping, bare-land cropping, or main field cropping. Under any of these cropping types, only potatoes harvested within the year can be shipped.
　The harvested products are stored at room temperature or refrigerated for the number of days recommended by the Promotion Headquarters, classified and sorted into either for fresh use or for processing based on the "Standard for Appearance" of the "Unified Standards for Quality of Annou Imo" set by the Promotion Headquarters, and shipped.

The area of production, Tanegashima Island ⁽¹⁾, is the first place in the then territory of Japan where sweet potato cultivation became established. Sweet potato was given by Ryukyu Kingdom ⁽²⁾ in 1698. The climate is warm, and the island receives almost no frost and thus has natural conditions appropriate for the cultivation and storage of sweet potato, which is susceptible to damage by low temperatures during storage.
　"Tanegashima Annou Imo" was first grown in the Annou area of Nishinoomote City around 1947. With its high sugar content and good taste, its production spread throughout the island, and it was called "Annou Imo" after the name of the Annou area.
　Until 1998, it was prohibited to move the potato from off the island because of pest contamination by sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius), which is a designated special pest under the Plant Protection Law. Thus production was limited to Tanegashima Island.
　Since the ban on the transfer was lifted, the area of cultivation has been increasing year by year, reaching to about 540ha in 2017 with annual production of about 9,600 tons by 520 producers.

1. Tanegashima Island is the easternmost island among the inhabited remote islands of Kagoshima Prefecture. It is the fifth largest remote island in Japan. It is one  of the space development centers in Japan with a number of space-related facilities such as Tanegashima Space Center. In recent years, marine sports are becoming active, and many surfers are moving in.
2. Ryukyu Kingdom: It was based in Ryukyu islands and existed for 450 years from 1429 to 1879.