Potato and Tuber Crops

Harvesting

• Harvesting should begin 10-15 days after haulm cutting, when the skin of the tuber becomes firm to reduce skin damage.
• Lifting of the crop early in the season by the end of February to middle of March before temperature rise above 30 °C is a practical method for minimizing losses due to charcoal rot, provided the tubers are stored in a cool place (Paharia, 1960).
• Harvesting damage due to skinning, cutting, bruising and cracks with manual harvesting decreased with delayed harvesting from 20.8 per cent at 85 days to 8.0 per cent at 105 days after planting.
• Harvesting damage in sandy clays was 15.3 per cent compared to 13.8 per cent in sandy loam soils (Sharma and Kachru, 1985).