With harvest season on the horizon, potato growers across Canada’s Ontario province are gearing up for what could be a critical period for crop quality and storage longevity. Dr. Eugenia Banks, a renowned potato specialist with the Ontario Potato Board, has shared a series of valuable insights designed to help farmers maximize their yields while minimizing the risk of tuber damage.
In her latest e-mail newsletter, Dr. Banks emphasizes the importance of careful harvest management, pointing out that “harvest management, in large part, is bruise management. The potato person who said many years ago, ‘A potato storage is not a hospital‘ was absolutely right.”
Minimizing Bruising for Better Storage
One of the key messages in Dr. Banks’ guidance is the crucial role that bruise management plays in ensuring the quality of potatoes both during and after harvest.
“Diseased or bruised tubers do not get better in storage,” she cautions, stressing that bruised potatoes are prone to serious issues like soft rot and Fusarium dry rot, which can lead to significant economic losses. To prevent such damage, Dr. Banks advises growers to ensure that all harvest and handling equipment is mechanically ready to minimize bruising from the outset.
Fusarium dry rot, which can lead to significant economic losses. To prevent such damage, Dr. Banks advises growers to ensure that all harvest and handling equipment is mechanically ready to minimize bruising from the outset.
Top Tips for Harvest Success
Dr. Banks outlines ten critical tips for achieving a tip-top harvest:
1. Timely Vine Killing: Killing the vines when tubers are mature makes harvesting easier by reducing the total vine mass moving through the harvester. This allows an easier separation of tubers from vines.
2. Timely Harvest: Potatoes intended for long term storage should not be harvested until the vines have been dead for at least 14 days to allow for full skin set to occur.
3. Soil Moisture: Optimal harvest conditions are at 60-65% available soil moisture.
4. Tuber Pulp Temperature: Optimal pulp temperatures for harvest are from 50°F to 60°F. Proper pulp temperature is critical; tubers are very sensitive to bruising when the pulp temperature is below 45°F. If pulp temperatures are above 65°F, tubers become very susceptible to soft rot and Pythium leak. Pulp temperatures above 70°F increase the risk of pink rot tremendously no matter how gently you handle the tubers if there is inoculum in the soil.
5. Tuber Hydration: An intermediate level of tuber hydration results in the least bruising.
– Overhydrated tubers dug from wet soil are highly sensitive to shatter bruising especially when the pulp temperature is below 45°F. In addition, tubers harvested from cold, wet soil are more difficult to cure and more prone to breakdown in storage.
– Slightly dehydrated tubers dug from dry soil are highly sensitive to blackspot bruising.
6. Reducing Blackspot Bruising: Irrigate soil that is excessively dry before digging to prevent tuber dehydration and blackspot bruising.
7. Bruise Detection Devices: Try to keep the volume of soil and tubers moving through the digger at capacity at all points of the machine. If bruising is noticeable, use a bruise detection device to determine where in the machinery the tubers are being bruised.
8. Avoid Poorly Drained Areas: Do not harvest potatoes from low, poorly drained areas of a field where water may have accumulated and/or dig tests have indicated the presence of tubers infected with late blight.
9. Employee Training: Train all employees on how to reduce bruising. Harvester operators must be continually on the lookout for equipment problems that may be damaging tubers. Ideally, growers should implement a bruise management program that includes all aspects of potato production from planting through harvest.
10. Harvest Timing: Harvest when day temperatures are not too warm to avoid tuber infections. Storage rots develop very rapidly at high temperatures and spread easily in storage. If potatoes are harvested at temperatures above 78°F the likelihood of storage rots is increased. If warm weather is forecast, dig the crop early in the morning when it is not so warm.
An Ounce of Prevention…
Dr. Banks reminds growers that proactive measures are key to a successful harvest. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” she writes, urging growers to implement comprehensive bruise management programs that cover every stage of potato production, from planting to storage.
These practical tips, grounded in Dr. Banks’ extensive expertise, provide a robust roadmap for potato growers aiming to navigate the complexities of the harvest season successfully. As the weather cools and the harvest begins, her advice could make all the difference in maintaining the quality and profitability of this year’s crop.
Source: Dr. Eugenia Banks, Potato Specialist, Ontario Potato Board
Contact:
EugeniaBanks@onpotato.ca
Cover image:
Dr. Eugenia Banks
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