Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2020 17 TUBER QUALITY R obust tuber quality can mean di erent things to di erent people. At times it can just refer to dry matter or starch content, or it can refer more to the internal condition of the tuber. However, there is one critical thing that links these di erent metrics together: E ective management of nutrients are key to establishing high quality in potato group. Mismanagement, however, can result in compromised quality and a nancial blow to your farm. Agronomy Manager at Yara, Mark Tucker, and Area Manager Tom Decamp focussed on “Nutrient management key for improving potato tuber quality” How do you measure quality when it comes to potatoes? Experts discussed di erent people’s perceptions during a recent webinar on the topic. the role of calcium, bene ts of using nitrates, tuber initiation and tuber analysis during a recent online seminar. “We shouldn’t forget that nutrients can create a negative impact too,” said Mark. “ is is particularly the case with nitrogen. If we get the timing wrong, or we have excess nitrogen in the system, that will cause quality issues.” Common issues in terms of potato disorders include lacklustre skin nish, internal bruising, internal browning, cracking brown centres, among others. ese disorders all have a common thread that indicates where our focus should be for robust potato nutrition: e cell wall. ➜ Mark Tucker said our foundation should be about creating a high-quality cell wall and cell membrane.