Cold storage of seed potatoes and its influence on the following crop

Tubers of three different potato varieties, Eigenheimer, Datura, and 5055/306, were stored, for planting purposes, both in a cold chamber and under normal storage conditions. Temperature in cold chamber was kept at 4° centrigade, and air moisture at 85%, while outside the chamber the temperature ranged from 16 to 28° centigrades, with air moisture from 55 to 70%. The periods of tuber storage varied from 10 to 110 days, both inside and outside the cold chamber. Samples of each potato variety stored under those different conditions were taken and planted in the field according to a statistical design. It has been found that differences due to varieties were greater than those due to treatments. The results are to be token as preliminary, since the period of only 110 days was not long enough to expect greater differences between treatments, principally if we consider the existence of difference of food reserve and water losses due to a greater or lesser sprouting intensity outside and inside the cold chamber. Storage during 30 - 50 - 60 - and 100 days, in the cold chamber, beginning just after harwest time has been found, for Eigenheimer variety, to induce better yields than other treatments did. Results obtained with the classification of yield in different classes, have shown a more important influence of the varieties themselves than of the conditions under which the tubers were stored.