The first 10 to 14 days of storage are critical for quality preservation of a potato crop. During this time, risk of disease infection through minor damage sustained during harvest threatens to reduce tuber marketability and weight.
Two of the most common potato storage diseases are Fusarium dry rot and silver scurf. Fusarium dry rot is a seedborne disease caused when Fusarium spp. penetrates the tubers’ skin and causes rot from the inside out. As this disease progresses, other pathogens may penetrate the weakened tubers, causing further damage.
Silver scurf is also a seedborne disease. Common symptoms of this fungus are usually small, light-brown lesions that tend to grow together and take on a silvery color when they get wet. In contrast to dry rot, silver scurf only infects the skin. However, this disease reduces marketability by causing water loss and shrinking tubers.
Using a post-harvest product like Stadium fungicide can help control dry rot and silver scurf. With three active ingredients and three modes of action, Stadium helps minimize the spread of diseases and preserve the quality of potatoes in storage.
Kiran Shetty, technical development lead for Syngenta, explains how Stadium is an effective option for potato storage disease management in the video above.