Potato storage in India

Abstract

In India potatoes are stored in cold store and used for both seed and table purposes. Seed potatoes are best stored in cold store maintained at 2- 4°C and at about 95% relative humidity. But cold stored potatoes are not suitable for table and processing purposes. Potatoes stored in cold store accumulate sugars and become sweet in taste and are therefore less suitable for consumption. Further, cold stored potatoes have poor keeping quality, once they are taken out of the cold store. When potatoes are used for preparation of chips, because of high accumulation of reducing sugars, they produce brown chips which are unacceptable both colour-wise an d taste-wise. The storage requirements of potatoes should be in accordance with the purpose for which potatoes are stored. It is suggested that cold stores maintained at 2-4°C should be used exclusively for the storage of seed potatoes. Table and processing potatoes should be store d at 8-12°C, after treating the potatoes with a sprout suppressant. For short-term storage of table and processing potatoes, non-refrigerated storage methods like evaporatively cooled potato store and traditional, on-farm potato storage methods like heaps and pits can be used profitably.

There is an urgent need to formulate a sound policy for the storage of potatoes in India, We should store only the seed potatoes in cold store maintained at 2-4°C.About 40% of the existing cold storage space should be sufficient to meet the storage requirements of seed potatoes. The remaining 60% of the cold storage space should be converted into storage space for table and processing potatoes, to be stored at 812°C.This will result in at least 40% saving of electricity, A cold storage with a capacity of 5000 tonnes of potatoes, which is maintained at 2-4°C consumes electricity worth Rs1.4 million/year. If the cold storage is maintained at 12cC with the savings on electricity at 40%, the cold storage owner can save about Rs 0.5 million/year, As a long-term planning, the cold stores that will come up in the future should be designed to maintain at 8-12°C and should be used exclusively for the storage of potatoes for consumption and processing purposes. For short-term storage, on-farm, traditional methods of potato storage can be used profitably for storing table and processing potatoes for 3-4 months.

Full text

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Heap storage of potatoes as practised by farmers in Meerut district
Potato storage
in
India
R Ezekiel,Vijay Paul, Jagpal Singh and G S Shekhawat
WHEN potato production reached
28 million tonnes
during
1996-
97,
lnd
ia
became
the
third
largest
prod ucer of potatoes in the world. Such
high
productivity
ha s been
pos
sible
because of the
tremendou
s
advance
s
made
ir. potato
production
technology
in the country
during
the
past
50
year
s.
Increase in
potato
production
ha s led
to
sev
eral po
st-production
problem
s
and the major problem is that of storage
of potatoes. Since
most
of the
potato
es
are
harvested
in
February-March,
it
results in a situation
wher
e, in tim es of
glut, the price fetched is so low
that
it
is
not
sufficient
even
to cover the cost
of
production.
Storage
helps
in
regulating the
supp
lies to the market
and thus avoiding gluts and distress
sale by growers. Futhermore, it reduces
tr ansport
bottlenecks
at
the
peak
period ofprod uction .About 90% ofthe
pot
atoes
are
pr
od uced in
the
Indo-
Gang
etic plains
and
one crop is
grown
in a
year
wh
ich
is h arv
ested
in
Feb ruary-
Mar
ch
.
The
re fore, fre sh
potatoes are available only for about2-
December 1999
In
India
potatoes are stored in cold store and used for b
oth
seed
and table purposes. Seed pota toes are
best
stored in cold store
mai
nt
ained at 2- 4°Cand at abou t95% relative
humi
dity.But cold
stored potatoes are not suitable for tableand process
ing
purp
oses.
Potatoes stored in co
ld
store acc
um
ulate sugars
an
d
be
come sweet
in taste
an
d are t
here
fore less
su
itable for consu
mp
tion.
Further
,
cold stored potatoes have poor k ee
pin
g
qu
ality, once
they
are
taken
out of the cold store.When potatoes areused for
pr
eparati
on
of chips, b ec
au
se of high a
ccumula
tion
of redu cing sugars,
th
ey
produce
brown
c
hi
ps
which
are unaccepta
bl
e both colour-wise
and taste-wise. The storage req
uirem
e
nt
s of
pota
toes
shou
ld
be
in accordance with
th
e
pu
r
pos
e for
whi
ch po tatoes are stored.
It
is suggested
tha
tcold stores m
ain
t
ain
ed at
2-4
°C s
hou
ld be used
exclusiv
ely
for the
stor
age of
seed
potatoes.T
abl
e a
nd
pr
oces
sin
g
potat
oes should
be
stored at
8-
12°C, after treat
ing
the
pot
atoes
with
a sprout suppress
an
t. For sho rt-term storage of
tabl
e
and
proc
es
sin
g pot
at
oes,
non-r
e
fri
g
erat
ed
storage
methods
like
evaporatively cooled
potat
o store
and
traditional,
on
-farm potato
storage
meth
ods
like
heaps
and
pits
can be used
profita
bly.
3
months
in a year.The requirement of po tatoes. Seed potatoes har
ves
ted in
table potatoes for the remaining 9-10
Febru
ary
have
to be
sto
red u
nti
l!
mon ths have to be met from stored October. Thus cold storage is ess
ent
ial
21

Kufri Jyoti heaped for storage at CPRS, Modipuram
for th e storage of seed
pot
ato
es
In
India
potatoe
s
are
stored in cold
store
at
2-4
°C. At present
ther
e are 3
443
cold
st
ore
unit
s in th e
cuntry
.
Out
of this, 2 975
are
in
the
private
sector
and
303
are
in the
co-operative
sector
The
rest are
in
the
publi
c sector.
The
present
cold
st
or
age
capacity
in
the
country
is
about
10.3
million
t
onn
es
and
It
has
been
es
tima
ted
tha
t
an
additional
1.2
million
tonnes
co ld
storage
capacity
will
be
required
in the
next
5
years,
STORAG E OF SEED PO
TA
TOES
In
north
Ind ian
plains
,
only
one
cro p is
grown
in a
year.
Before
the
development
of
seed-plot
technique,
seed
potatoes
for p lan ting in the
plain
s
wer
e
being
procured
from
the
hills
,
be ca
use
se
ed
pota
toes
produ
ced in
plain
s
used
to be infected
with
viral
di
sea
ses.
With
the
development
of the
seed-p lot
technique
,it
became
possible
to
produce
good
quality
, di sea se-free
seed
potatoe
s
in
the
p
lains,
and
it
became
standard
practice
to
store
seed
potatoes
in
cold
store,
harvested
in
Feb ru ar y un till they are p lanted in
Oct
ober. Se
ed
potatoes
are
best
stored
at 2--4°C and
90-9
5% RH, beca use at
this
temper
ature ,
sprouting
does
not
occur
and
w ei g
ht
loss
is m inim
um
.
Abou
t 93% of the co ld stora ge
capacity
ill
the country is being use d exclusively
for the stor age of pota toes
In
the
northern
hills, p otatoes are
planted
in
April
/May
and
ha
rvested
in
September
/October.
Se
ed
potatoes
ha
rvest
ed in
October
is
stor
ed
during
the
cold
wint
er
month
s
until
they are
planted
in
Apri
l.
Th
erefore,
refrigerated
storage
is not
required.
How
ever,
th e
normal
p ra ctice
of
stonng
potatoes
in
dark
, resu lts in
oversprouting
l
eadmg
to
redu
ced seed
vigour.
Storage
of
see
d potat oes in
diffused lIght res
ult
s
in
reduced sprou t
gra'wth
and
retenti
on of seed \
'IS
U L!l
Whi
le
diffu
sed lIght storage of seed
potato
es
IS
u
seful
in hills. It is not \'('ry
usef
ul
In
the p lains
beca
use
of high
tempera
tures
d
ur
mg su
mme
r mo
nths
,
loss of
seed
vIgou r is also noticed
ST ORA GE OF
TA
BLE POTATOES
Fre sh
potatoe
s are av ai lable for
consumption
on
ly for a few
mont
hs,
after
the
h
arv
est. For a ma jor
par
t of
the year,
pota
toes from cold stores are
consum
ed .
Tho
ugh cold storage facility
was
developed
pr
irnari ly fo r
the
storage
of seed
POtCl
toes,
the
v ha ve
been
used
for
t
he
storage
of
rab
le
potatoe
s also . Ref rig
era
ted stor age at
2-4
°C is
the
b
est
for
seed
p
otato
es
because
at this te
mp
erat ure tubers
do
no t
sprout
and
there IS no need to use
any
sprout
supp ressants.Stora ge losses
are
al
so
m m im
urn
a t
this
stora
ge
temp
er
atur
e Bu t, 2--4°C IS not the ideal
s
torage
temperature
for table potatoes
as at this
temperature,
they b
ecome
sweet
du
e to su gar ac
cumulation
and
Clre
no
t
preferred
for cons ump tion
Con
sumer
pre
ference s
have
changed as
a
result
of
incr
ea
sed
aware
ness
and
we
will ha ve to
think
111 terms of
meeting
th e
erequirerne
nts
of the consu
me
r
Furth
er,
cold
stored
potat oes
do
not
keep
well
once
they
are
removed
from
A potato heap covered with straw at CPRS, Modipuram
~
..
..
Indi
an Farm
ing
22

~
'- _
'"
..
~
_
.
'"'l-
0- .
Pit storage of potatoes at CPRS, Modipu ram
the
cold store. \Vhen potatoes
are
taken
out of t
he
col d
stor
e,
the
v
beg
in to
spr
ou t
and
rottin g incr
eas
es. Sprouted
tube
rs
are
no
t
sui
tab
le f
or
co
ns
u mp tion . T
he
sli
my
m ass that
oozes
out of rotti
ng
tu bers sticks to
other healthy
tuber
s d
uri
ng h
and
ling
an d
sp
oils the
appearan
ce of
the
enti
re
lot th us
reducing
the
accep
tability
and
m
ar
ket
valu e .
The
po or kee p i
ng
-
quality of cold stored
potatoe
s
makes
its
mar
keting di fficult.
Generally, table
pot
atoes
are
stored
at 8
-1
20C, in m ost of th e coun tries .
When
p
otat
oes
ar
e
sto
red
a t
thi
s
tem pera
tur
e, ac
cumu
lation of r
ed
ucing
suga
rs is m inim
um
and
potatoes
d
ono
t
beco me s
wee
t. How ever, at t
his
st
orage
temper
atu
re, po ta to es
sp
rou t.
Th
er
efore
, it is neces
sary
to treat
the
sto
r
ed
pot
atoes
w ith a
sp
ro ut
suppressant
like
Clf'C
(iso pro py l N-(3-
ch lorop henyl ) ca rbam a te) . Table
po
ta
toes
can
be tr ea
ted
wit
h
25mg
Clf'
C a .i. / t
OI
U1
e of tub ers (commercial
prep arations of Clf'C du st contruns 1%
active ingr edient) at th e tune ofstorage.
If
liquid
fromulation
is
used,
Clf'C
can
be a
pp
lied in the
form
of (1 fog using a
fog
gin
g machin e (com
mer
cia! liquid
formu
lation is
applied
at 25 m l of the
50'Joprod uct/
tonn
e of
pot
atoe
s). After
the
Clf'C tr
eat
men t the store s
hou
ld be
kept airtight for at least
-18
hr
The
y are
safe for co
nsu
mpti on after 3 w eeks of
tre
at
men t si
nce
the resi
du
e
leve
l of
elPe in treat
ed
t
ube
rs is w
ithin
the
acc
eptable
lim it of 25
mg
Clf'C
/ kg of
tube rs, 3 weeks after the treatment.
No
t all
po
tato
far
mers have access
to refri
gera
ted st orage facility.
Fur
ther
,
sm all farmers ca
nn
ot afford to pa y the
cold s
torag
e
char
ges
wh
ich
hav
e gone
up
considerably after the dec
ontro
l by
Stat e
Government
s. Therefore,
there
is
a need
for
alte
rnat
e p
otato
storage
methods
,
esp
ecially to m
eet
the
short
-
term storage needs. Non-refri
gerated
sto
r
age
m
etho
ds can be used to
stor
e
po
tatoes for 3
-1
111
on th5, i.e u p to June
en
d .
Onc
e t
he
m ons
oo
n
begi
ns
,
pe -a toes can not be stored in a non-
re frig
er
at ed s to re
beca
us
e
no
n-
refi
ger
a
ted
stores
work only
un
der dry
cori d iti
on
s
Short
-te
rm
sto r
ag
e
of
po
t
ato
es
for
3-
-1
m
on
th s is boo d
e
noug
h because it help s
avo
id distress
sale
imm
ed iately after harvest
and
the
:armer
can
ge t be tte r r
eturn
s by selling
th e
po
tat oes in May or J
une
, when
pot
ato
pnce
s s tart risin g,
It
is relatively e
asy
to store potatoes
und
er
n
on-r
efri ge
rate
d con
dit
ions
whe n they are dorma nt .India n potato
va rieties
have
a dormancy period of
6-
8
wee
ks.
On
ce the dorm ancy period is
ove r.
spro
utin g
beg
ins . Weight loss in
po
tatoes d
uri
ng
storage is
main
ly due
to wate r loss from the
tuber
s an d the
wei
ght
loss is
mu
ch m ore in s
prou
ted
tub
er
s. It h as b een est
ima
ted that
wate
r
loss th roug h sp rou ts is 100 times more
than
that th ro
ugh
the tube r skin. per
un
it
area
an
d ti
me.
S
pr
ou
tin
g also
incr
eas
es re
sp
ir
ator
y losses. Rott ing is
con
sider
able in non-refrigera ted
stor
es.
Exte
nt
of
rotting
is
det
erm
ined
bv
the
pre-s
torage
conditions
and
infection
generally
oc
cur
s
during
harve
sting
and
handlin
g opera tions
prior
to st
ora
ge.
Rotting
is a g
grava
ted
by lac k
of
December 1999 23

aera tion, high h
unud
itv a
nd
fav
ou ra
ble
tem
pera
t
ur
es tha t ge nera ll:' prev ail
in
non-rc frigera tod sto res
wit
hout
forced
air circu la
tion
Th e C en t
ra
l
Po
ta
to
Re s
ear
ch
In
stit
u te (CPRI), Sh rrn la cond ucted
exten sive sto
rag
e stu dies
C1t
its Regional
Res
ear
ch Sta
non
s. P a
tna
,Ja
landh
ar an d
Dau
ral a du
rm
g 1970- 80 . A n
ev ap
or
ati
ve
lv coo led
pot
ato
st
ore
wh
ich
do
es
not
re
qui
re electricity or
a
ny
other
s
ource
o f p o
we
r wa s
d eve lo ped in E i
ght
ie s . P assi ve
ev apora tion ui
water
helps in lowering
the t
em
pe ratu re insid e the store an d the
Insi
de
lem
pe
ra t
ur
e is
6-
12!'C low
er
than
th e a
mbie
nt.
This
s tore w
or
ks
eff
ici
ent
lv w
hen
.--
- - - - - - -
the
a m bi
en
t
te
mpe
ra
tu
re is
h
igh
an d th e
rela tiv e
hu
rn id
itv
IS
10\\
'
An
experi
me
nta l
store
cons
truc t
ed
at the
Ce
n t
ra
l P
ot
a to
Rese
arc h Sta tio n.
[alandhar is
bri
ck
masone
ry
s t r u c t u r e
me
as
ur
i
ng
9.1x,l.6x
30
m, 20
tonn es of potat oes
can be
sto
red in
th is s tore .
The
\\eight
loss is
arou
nd
7" 0 for a st
ora
ge p
erio
d of 3
monthsa
nd
th is
can
be
br
ou
gh t
dow
n
to arou nd
-1
'\,)by tre
atin
g t
he
po
tat oes
vvith C
IPe.
Ho
we
ver, th is sto re w
or
ks
on
ly in Pu nja b a
nd
w e
st
er
n U
ttar
P r a
de
sh
, w h e
re
th
e d ry s u m me rs
facili t
ate
evap orativ e
coo
li
ng
,
Trad itionall y, far
mers
in In
dia
have
been st
orin
g t
ab
le
po
ta toes f
or
Cl
few
mo
nths
an
d th e
st
o ra g e
met
h od s
fo ll ow e d <He
reg
io n -
spe
cif ic . Fo r
e
xam
p
le,
h e
ap
s a re p o pu la r in
K
ar
na
tak
a.
Ma
hara
sh
tra , C ujarat a
nd
Ut
t
ar
Pr
ad
e
sh
. In M
ad
h ya
Pra
d esh
heaps
an
d
pit
s
are
com mon ly used for
pota to st
or
age, wh ile in Bihar,
pota
toes
arc st
or
ed in IIll7clu7I1 . The se m et
ho
ds
d iff
er
in their
storage
effi
cie
ncy
and
t
ot
al
stora
ge losses Me
ve
ry
hig
h ,
rang
mg f
rom
1
S
-
8
0
o ~
.
For
o
ur
s
ho
rt-
term s torage
ne
eds, tra di ti
onal
storage
me thod s L d
ll
be use fu l
bec
ause thex
have svera lad van tages,
HZ
(i) thev
are
chea p and n o inves tme nt is
nee
deed on
sto rage s
tru
ctu
res
, (ii) the
materia
ls
req uired are lo
cal
lv
ava
il
ab
le. and (iii)
they
are readi ly accepta ble to f
ar
me
rs .
The only di
sad
van
tage of t
radit
i
ona
l
meth ods is th at th e sto rage losses are
verv
hich
d ue to exce ssive r ot t
inc
The
; b 0
I-;g h tem p er at u re
an
d re la ti
ve
ru
rni
ditv w ith in
the
h
eaps
and
PItS
resu
lt
in
hrgh inc i
de
nce
at ro t
ting
. If the
efficie
ncy
of thes e
sto
rage m
etho
ds
cou ld be
improved
and
the to tal s
torage
losses are
bro
ug
ht
do
wn to
aro
und
lO
~
u
avai
lab
le for
pro
ce
ssin
g if! t
he
north
Indian plains ,Potat o
chip
s prod uced bv
U1C
unor
gani
zed se
cto
r still forms the
m ajor p ort
ion
of
the
lo l,11 q uan ti tv of
po
tato
ChIpS p
rodu
ced
111
U1e countrx
H ow ever. with th e libe ra liz rt
ion
of
Indian econom y,several
mode
rn potato
proce ssing uni ts we re set
up
in diff
eren
t
parts of th e
count
ry
durin
g
the
last
dec
ade
to
prod
uce
po
ta to c
lup
s Su ch
large-scale increa se 111 pot
ato
orocessmg
ac
tivi
t
ies
led to
gre
at
e' d zrna nd f
or
potatoes thro
ughou
t the \'t.,1..Since fresh
potatoes are n ot ava ilable
throu
g
hout
the year,
potato
proces
so rs felt U1e need
to utilize stored
potato
es
and
It was then
tha l
they
re a li zed tha t cold st
ore
d
------------------------,
There is an urgent need to formulate a sound policy for the storage of
potatoes in India, We should store only the seed potatoes in cold store
maintained at
2-4
°C.About 40% of the existing cold storage space should
be sufficient to meet the storage requirements of seed potatoes. The
remaining 60% of the cold storage space should be converted into
storage space for table and processing potatoes, to be stored at
8-
12°C.This will result in at least 40% saving of electricity,A cold storage
with a capacity of 5 000 tonnes of potatoes, which is maintained at 2-
4°C consumes electricity worth Rs 1.4 million/year.If the cold storage is
maintained at 12cC withthe savings onelectricity at 40%, the cold storage
owner can save about Rs 0.5 million/year, As a long-term planning, the
cold stores that will come up in the future should be designed to maintain
at 8- 12°C and should be used exclusively for the storage of potatoes for
consumption and processing purposes.For short-term storage ,on-farm,
traditional methods of potato storage can be used profitably for storing
table and processing potatoes for 3- 4 months ,
for a period of
3-4
m
ont
hs of sto
rage
,
the
tra
d i
tion
al
metho
d s o f
pota
to
stor age
wo
uld
be
useful for
sh
or t-t
er
m
storage of table
pot
atoes. Th e CPRI is
a t
pr
ese
n t e
va
lua
ti
ng
s to r
age
of
p
ot
ato
es in
he
a ps
an
d pits
at
it s
Re gi on a l R
esea
rch
Stn
ti oris at
Ialan dhar, M
od
i
pu
r
am
and Pa
tna
.I
t is
ho
pe
d th a t the
inforrna
tion collo cte d
w ill hel p in im p
roving
the efriciencv of
the
se
two
st
orage
met
hods
.
STO
RAG
E OF PROCES SIN G
P
OT
ATO ES
Un til recently,
pota
to
proce
ssin
g in
Ind ia
was
being
do
ne
large lv
b)
' t
he
unorgani
zed
sec tor a
nd
the
proce
sin
g
act ivitv wa s co
nf
i
ne
d to 2
-3
mo
n
ths
in
Zl
yea
r,
wh
en
fre
sh
p o ta t
oes
we
re
po
ta
toe
s a re n ot
SUita ble
for
p r
oces
sing
p u
rpose
s. \
Vh
en
s to r
ed
a t 2--1"C,
potato
es accu
mul
ate
hi
gh
le ve l
of
reduc
ing
su gars.TI1e
ac ce
pt
able l
im
it of
redu
cin g s ug ars
cont
ent
in p otatoes
fo r p
ro
cessin g
p
ur
po
ses is O.2sou.lf
the
reduc
ing
sug ars
conten t is more than
this. pot.itoes are
not
con
s
ider
ed s uitable
f
or
proc
essing
The
red u cin -; su ga rs
content
in cold st ored p otatoes IS v
ery
hi
gh
, ofte n 1- 2"" . Th
er
ef
or
e, c
hips
prod
uced
fo
rm
cold s
tore
d potatoes are
dark
b
rown
111
c
olou
r
Si
nce
cold-sto red
potato
es are not
sui
table
for
pr
oces
sin
g, t
he
re IS a need
to st
ore
po
ta toes mean t for
pro
cessing
p
ur
poses at lu gh er tem
pe
ra tures . vvo rk
d
one
at the CPRl, Shi
ml
a.
has
sh ow n
tha t when p otat oes a re
store
d a t S-
12"C, r
edu
cin g suga rs con tent IS
be
lov,
the acce ptble le vel of
::'.:;0
ncg/ 100 g of
tub
er
s, Th
ere
fore, p ala tal'S
stor
ed
at
th is te m
pe
r
at
u
re
p rod u ce ligh t
colo
ur
ed ch
ips
.As alre
ad
v men tioned ,
po
tatoes
sp
rout
when
sto
red
at
o-
12"C
a
nd
they s
hou
ld be trea ted w ith C
IrC
(continued on page 41)
December 1999 25

potat o
varieti
es an d m
aintain
ing t
hei
r
gen
e tic
pu
rit
y in se ed p o ta to
p
rod
uctio
n
progr
amme.
Bio
teclmology
in the past several
~
'c
a
rs
ha
s pro
du
ced a
set
of p
owe
rfu l
tools f
or
po ta to
pr
odu
ctio
n a
nd
im
prov
eme
n t.
Th
e fu t
ur
e
wo
rk
is
expected to focu s on:
•
Au
to
ma
tio
n
of
p
ot
ato
mi
cro
p
rop
agation
with
suit
a
ble
adoption
of rob otics or fe
rme
nter
or
bior
eactor tec
hnologies.
• L
on
g-t
er m
cryo
pr
ese
rv
atio
n of
rich
di versity of pot
ato
gen
etic
re
sour
ces in
liquid
nitroge
n.
• DNA
fin
g
er
prin
tin
g and ge ne
mappin
g of
en
tire
po
ta to
ger
mplasm collection s in order to
use the
gene
pool
more
effectively
and
effi
cient
ly in im
proveme
nt
prou a
mme
.
• Isolation
and
char
acterization of
novel genes h om d ist
ant
genera
or com
ple
tely
un
related
sources
(b
oth
pl
ant
s
and
anim als),
and
th
eir
successfu l introgression into
p
otat
o pl
ant
s for
the
syn
thesis of
'super p otat oes'.
It sho uld be str
essed,
however,
that
i
mpr
essive as these
de
velop
ments
are,
they
shou
ld be seen as su
pp
leme nts to
con
venti
ona l
po
tato
br
eedin g. which
includes hybrid ization an d selection.
It
st
ill
re
m a
ins
a po
werful
tool for
pro
duc
ing a m ulti
tude
of new g£ne
c
ombin
ations
ho
m w hich breeders can
sel
ect
for
de
sira ble traits . Classica l
meth
od
s of
potato
br
eed ing ar e still
req
u
ired
to d eter
rr
i
ne
t
he
fi
na
l
agronomic
acce
ptanc e
('
! n
ew
h i
gh-
yield
ing
var
ieties.
Potato storage in India
(continued from pag e25)
to
che
ck sprou t
grow
th .
Po
tato
es
sto
red
und
er
non
-
refrigerated c
onditi
ons ar e also su it
abl
e
for processing.Studies
conducted
at th e
CPRI
has
sho wn th at po
tato
es stored
in evap
orat
ively cooled
store
produced
accept
ab le ch i
ps,
whe
reas
po
t
atoe
s
stor
ed in c
old
st ore
pro
duce
d
dar
k
colo
ur
chips.
Pot
atoes
stor
ed in
traditional
m
eth
ods like he
aps
an
d
pit
s
are
highly
su itable fa proc essing.
Th
e red
ucing
s
uga
rs content of
these
potatoes
are
with
in
the
acce ptable limit
and
chip
s
produce
d from these
pot
atoes
are
light
in col our. Tria ls
be
ing
co
nduc
ted
at
CPRI
have
also s
ho
wn th at
pota
toes
stored in heaps
and
pits ar e
su
itable for
processing.
Th
ese me
tho
ds of storage
are very p op u
lar
in
th e districts of
Ujjain
and
Indr.re in
~l
a
d
h
y
a
Pradesh.
The p otato
pr
oce
ssi n g ind
ust
ries
locate d in the north
ern
plain s
do
not
mind
pay
ing
a hi
gher
price for these
potat oes
an
d in
cur
ring
con
sid
erab
le
ex
pen
di
t
ur
e on tran sp ort o
ver
long
dis
tances
bec
ause
the potatoes stored
in he aps and pits are
hig
hly
suitable for
processing . As a re
sul
t,
farmer
s of
Mal
wa
region of M
adhya
Pradesh get
b
ett
er
return
s for their p
rod
uce.
Processed products from potato...
(continued from page 38)
CANNED POTATOES
Cann
ing
of
p ota toes
on
comm
er
cial
sca
le is
not
ca
rr
ied
ou
t in
this
coun t
ry
ma
inl
y
be
cau
se
of the
hi
gh
cost
of
can.
H o
we
ve
r,
so
me
quantities of
po
ta toes are ca
nne
d to
meet
the
requirem en ts of the arm ed
forces.
It
is reported
that
pot
atoes
wi
th
a s
pec
ific gravi ty of less th an 1.075 or
< 20%
dry-m
atter
are
pre
ferred
for
can
ning
and
can
be
c
ann
ed withou t
dis
int
e
gr
ation
or
stoughing
du
rin
g
p
roces
i
ng
even
wi
th ou t th e
use
of
calc
ium
s
alt
s.
In
spit
of
th
e
vas
t
scope
fo r
proc
es sed p r
odu
ct
s, In dia
lags
cehin
ed in
ind
i
gen
ously dev
eloped
infr
ast
ru
ctu res for mod
em
ind
us tries,
suitab
le
varie
ties for differen t fo
rm
s
of proc es
sin
g, a
ppr
opr
iate
processing
and
sto
rea
ge
te
chn
olo
gy,
proper
pa
cka g
ing
an
d
tra
n sp or ta ti on
facilities a
nd
awarenes
s a
mo
ng
the
mas
ses. All th ese activitie s need to be
imp
ro
ved
to e
nh
ance th e effici
en
cy of
proc
e
ssin
g
and
to
red
uce
the
c
ost
of
proce
ssed
pro
du cts.
Dev
elo
pm
en t of
approp
ria te
te
ch no log y
for
deh
y d r
ated
pr
odu cts
fJr
the
rur
al
se
ctor
w ill n ot on ly e
nsure
rem
un
erative r
etu
rn
s of their
pro
duce
to
the
s
mall
fa
rm
ers,
bu
t
wo
uld a
lso
boo
st the processin g
industry
.
Produce
rrro
re;
Market
rrio
re;
Gain
More
December 1999 41