Key factors to successful storage and preventing common potato diseases

According to Industrial Ventilation Inc (IVI), a storage technology company based in Idaho, the two critical environmental factors involved in properly storing potatoes and preventing common potato diseases are temperature and humidity. Adequate and unrestricted air movement is also necessary to maintain constant temperature and humidity throughout the storage pile—and to prevent excessive shrinkage from moisture loss and decay. Several factors influence temperature management for stored potatoes, and storage temperature affects key aspects of successful storage, including the curing and wound healing processes, disease spread and severity, the sugar-starch relationships, and respiration, which in turn influences dormancy or sprouting, and weight loss. Bruising and cuts can occur during harvesting and handling, and wound healing is critical in order to minimize the entry areas for ever-threatening organisms of potato diseases. Read more