Potato Harvesting

Potato crop matures in 100 – 120 days. Drying of vines, hardening of potato skin and yellowing of leaves are the indications that the tubers have gained maximum size and weight. Potatoes are reaped either using a mechanical harvester or manually using spade for their digging. Tubers if kept under shade for 2 – 3 days harden their skin to avoid its removal during grading and packaging. Tubers are graded for separate packaging of superior grade to get high prices. Potato tubers which are uninjured, clean, dry and free from diseases are packed in clean, disinfected and unspoiled bags. Potatoes to be kept for seed purposes are stored at 3-4°C while the ones to be marketed after 2-3 months can be stored at 10 – 15°C.

Poor post-harvest handling, including transport and storage practices, causes unnecessary damage and losses and reduction of consumption quality. Sufficient cold store space is available in Pakistan. The handling of potatoes in storage is unsatisfactory and poorly managed. Finally, the farmers and consumers are faced with serve cyclical fluctuations in price, as production moves from glut to shortage, so preventing the farmers from enjoying a reliable income and inhibiting the consumer from including potato as a regular staple part in his diet.