Increase yield with better seed potatoes

Script

Let us think for a few minutes about potatoes and how you might get a higher yield from your potato plants.

Two types of seed
As you may know, there are two kinds of seed that will produce a crop of potatoes. One kind is the potato tuber itself or even a piece of the tuber that has tiny indented buds or “eyes” on it. Then too there are small potato seeds that you can find inside the little round green fruit that grows on the potato plant. Some people grow their potatoes from these seeds. The most common way of growing potatoes however, is the first that I mentioned, planting the potato tuber or part of the tuber.

The best potato tubers to plant
Mr. W.D.M.G.Dayawansa is a potato specialist in Sri Lanka. He says that the most important thing about growing potatoes from tubers is to plant only the highest quality seed potatoes. That means that they must not be damaged by insects or disease and they must have thick skins. They must also have been mature when harvested. Tubers with thick skins are less likely to be damaged during the harvest. As a result, they are are less likely to become infected with potato diseases that can get into the tuber through breaks or cuts in the skin.

Mr. Dayawansa has some advice to ensure that your seed potatoes are mature and have thick skins. He says you should leave the potatoes growing until about two weeks before you would normally harvest them. At this time, the leaves and stems are still green, although they will soon begin to turn yellow and die. So, while they are still green and growing, pick out a number of the very best and healthiest potato plants, cut or pull the stems up out of the ground, leaving the potatoes in the ground. Over the next two weeks, down there in the ground, those potatoes will mature more quickly than they would normally, and the skins will get much thicker, and be better for later planting as seed potatoes.

By the way, it may be a good idea to put a stake in the ground where each plant was, so you will know exactly where to dig for the potatoes when the time comes. And, of course, when you are digging them up, be careful not to break the skin or injure them in any way.

After you have harvested your potato crop, decide how many potato tubers you will need to plant for next season’s crop. Mr. Dayawansa says that this is the time to pick out the tubers that will make the best seed potatoes.

And what kind should you choose?

Choose well-matured tubers, slightly bigger than a hen’s egg, with a thick hard skin. That is, a skin that does not break easily and does not let in disease. These high quality potatoes must be free of insects and any sign of disease.

Storing seed potatoes
After picking out the tubers you are going to use for seed next season, separate them from those you will use for food. Store the food potatoes in a dark place. The seed potatoes should be stored in a different way.

Dr. Robert E. Rhoades worked for many years at the International Potato Center in Peru and is an expert on seed potato storage. His advice is to store the tubers you will use for seed “where there is some light but not direct sunlight”. He says that some farmers build simple seed potato storage sheds. Many of them have only a thatched roof on top of four posts in the ground. There are several shelves shaded by the roof. They are attached to the posts. The farmers store their seed potatoes on the shelves. The size of the shed or structure depends upon how many seed potatoes the farmer uses each season.

When potatoes are stored like this, the light makes their skins turn green. Dr. Rhoades says that this stops the tiny buds or eyes from sprouting, keeping all the food for the new plant right inside the tuber and keeping it from getting soft. “If you store them this way”, he says, “they’ll produce healthier stronger plants that are less likely to be attacked by pests and disease.”

A HUMAN HEALTH WARNING
Dr. Orville Page, the former Director of Research at the International Potato Center has a warning about potatoes that have turned green after being stored in the light: “They are excellent for planting but DO NOT EAT THEM. Whatever you do don’t eat or sell them for eating. Potato tubers that have turned green could be poisonous.”

Summary
And there you have a lot of good advice on potatoes from people on opposite sides of the world who have learned what they know by growing the crop. If you grow potatoes, why not try out these ideas? If you do, you will likely increase your production and have better potatoes for your family to eat, and perhaps to sell.

Once again, here are the main points.

If you grow potatoes by planting tubers, take special care to plant only the best possible tubers. About two weeks before you would normally harvest your potatoes, cut or pull up the green leaves and stems from a number of good healthy plants, leaving the potatoes in the ground. This will give them time to mature in the ground before you harvest them.

After harvesting, set aside the tubers you will use for seed. They should be a little bigger than eggs, with thick hard skins, no cuts or bruises, and free from insects and disease.

Store your seed potatoes in a place where it is light, but not where the sun shines directly on them. The light causes seed potatoes to turn green and prevents them from sprouting and turning soft.

These green potatoes must not be used for food because they are poisonous. When planted, however, they will produce strong healthy plants that will resist pests and diseases.