Thanks to all who supported our two-day, residential Potato Store Managers' Course on 15/16 March 2022 at Retford, Nottinghamshire.
This was a participative course for growers and store managers who are involved in the day-to-day management of potato stores. The course followed a format that's tried and tested by the tutors and will include talks, group discussions and practical interactive sessions, focusing on all aspects of potato storage. There was opportunity for delegates to raise specific concerns and for these to be addressed during the course on a 1:1 or group basis. Delegate numbers were limited to 20to encourage discussion and participation.
Areas covered included:
Store management principles
Storage buildings and control systems
Basic physiology for storage
Store monitoring
Store hygiene and disease control
Maintaining skin finish for pre‑packing
Drying, wound healing & pull-down
Managing processing crop quality
Sprout suppression options post-CIPC
Seed store management
Ethylene management
Store loading strategies
Practical store operation
Store ventilation
Quality control and protocols
Condensation control
Energy efficiency
Health & safety
Tutors were Adrian Cunnington and Glyn Harper formerly of Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research. The course was organised by Potato Storage Insight Ltd (PSI) of which Adrian Cunnington is a director.
Course included lunch and refreshments each day and course dinner on the Tuesday evening.
Each participant received a certificate on completion of the course.