Economic Comparison of Two Vs. Three-Plane Potato Seed Cutting

Abstract

ABSTRACT POTATO producers could increase returns as much as $250/ha if seed cutting/planting mechanisms and techniques could be improved to give better plant stands. Seed cutting machines should be designed to produce only viable seed pieces. Seed piece mass and seed piece cut surface area to skin-covered surface area ratio (CA/SA) were used for evaluating seed piece viability. Seed cutting patterns which produce the maximum number of viable seed pieces per tuber were defined. Economic analysis incorporating performance penalties was used to analyze two- and three-plane cutting machines and indicated an economic advantage to the three-plane cutting machine. This advantage was insensitive to variation of the following parameters: dollar value per seed piece, and tuber size and shape frequency distributions. There is no economic advantage to a three-plane cutting machine when the value of the cut surface area to skin-covered surface area ratio of the seed piece is less than approximately 1.5.