asked the Minister for Agriculture if he can state how long potatoes will keep when they are cooked by steam; how much would he estimate a steaming plant to cost which would deal with 5,000 tons in three months, and what would be the probable cost per ton; further, if such steaming process would kill the black scab germ and enable the steamed potatoes to be sold outside the scheduled area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Written Answers. - Potato-Steaming Plant.
A method of preserving surplus potatoes by steaming and then storing them in pits for use on the farms on which they were grown is, I understand, practised to some extent in certain districts in Holland. Potatoes stored in this way can be kept in the pits for use for the feeding of farm animals in the following season, but it would appear that the material, like other food substances stored in a similar manner, rapidly decomposes after it is taken out of the pit, and that therefore it could not be transported for use elsewhere than at the place of production without suffering very serious waste.
I have no definite information as to the estimated cost of a washing and steaming plant or of the cost per ton of preserving potatoes by the steaming and pitting method.
I am advised that steaming, if properly carried out, i.e., with due regard to temperature and duration of the process, would destroy the spores of black scab.