Changes in potato tuber skin histology, behaviour with the application of growth regulators in storage and its performance under field

Prolonging the shelf life of seed tubers under normal conditions helps the farmers to store their own produce as seed for the subsequent seasons, which in turn reduces the cost of production. Though, many chemicals such as methyl ester of naphthalene acetic acid, maleic hydrazide (MH) and CIPC can be used as sprout suppressants, which kill the sprouts, but as such they are not suitable for use in seed potatoes. Storage behaviour of seed tubers with treatments of chemicals like maleic hydrazide, zeatin, salicylic acid, chlorocholine chloride (CCC), tri-iodo benzoic acid (TIBA) was studied on standing crop and resultant tubers were stored under normal open rack storage condition. CCC followed by MH performed well in controlling the sprout length. The histological studies of transverse section of tuber skin showed differences in thickness of phellem and arrangement of starch granules between control, MH and CCC treatments.