Adaptation of an Underground Ventilated Pit for Potato Storage

The potato, or Solanum tuberosum L. is a semi-perishable product. The entire potato production-consumption system depends on effective post-harvest technology and marketing due to the crop's bulk and perishability. Decomposition, deterioration, and physiological breakdown all lower potato quality and storage life. Relative humidity, air circulation, gas composition, and storage temperature all have a direct impact on these deteriorations. Maintaining tubers in their most marketable and edible state while ensuring a consistent supply of tubers for processing facilities and markets all year long is the goal of storage. The Jimma Zone in Dedo Woreda, a possible Keble for potato production, was used to store potatoes. In order to facilitate natural drainage, a dry location with a slightly raised slope was chosen. Bamboo was used to construct a horizontal ventilation system that was 2 meters long, 40 cm wide on the sides, and even in the middle of the pit. After covering the pit with rough eucalyptus poles and a board for strength, a layer of wood is applied to stop soil from slipping through. The mature, dry, healthy, and disease-free potatoes were kept in storage, while the others were left exposed and covered. The stored potato does not deteriorate or sprout for four months and twenty days.