Potato producers are being urged to thoroughly prepare their potato stores for this year’s harvest.
The British Potato Council said basic advice such as vacuuming potato stores could avoid creating problems which could lead to losses of thousands of pounds.
Adrian Cunnington, BPC storage expert, said the potential contamination lurking in a dirty potato store was considerable and he is urging managers to make methodical inspections.
“Check temperature probes for damage, replace any that are faulty and use a hand-held unit to compare sensors for accuracy,” he said.
Vacuuming floors and walls will remove soil and dust left by last season’s crop as Cunningham said just one gramme of dust could leave a staggering 2,000 spores of the skin blemish disease silver scurf.
“In addition, power wash and disinfect dirty storage boxes and grading machinery, especially if they’ve handled any wet rot last season,” he added.
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