Evaluation of non-refrigerated storage methods for short term on-farm storage of potatoes*

Evaluation of traditional methods of potato storage viz. pit and heap and an evaporatively cooled store (ECS) was done during 1999–2001 with the use of sprout inhibitor isopropyl 3-chlorophenyl carbamate (CIPC). Maximum temperatures in the pit storage remained 5 – 15°C lower than the ambient during March – June. Temperatures in ECS and heap storage were about 2–3°C higher than pit storage. Relative humidity in the three storage systems remained consistently high (60.0–95.8%). Total loss in weight of untreated potatoes remained low (7.4–9.4%) up to 12 weeks of storage. Potatoes could be safely stored up to the first week of June and the performance of pit storage was better than heap and at par with ECS storage. Double treatment with sprout inhibitor isopropyl 3-chlorophenyl carbamate (CIPC) could further extend the storage life of potatoes up to 16 weeks by reducing physiological weight loss (by 39.8%), sprouting (by 83.7%) and sprout growth (by 93.3%) in tubers. The efficiency of CIPC was more pronounced under pit storage where even the single treatment of CIPC showed significant sprout suppression and reduction in weight loss of tubers up to 16 weeks.