Biological aspects of protecting harvested crops of potatoes, vegetables, and fruits against storage losses.

The causes of heavy losses in storage of harvested crops of potatoes, vegetables, and fruits are considered, and the means of preventing them under modern farming conditions are discussed. Primary attention was directed towards the results of work devoted to the study of biochemical mechanisms which control the resistance of plant tissues to phytopathogenic microorganisms, the state of quiescence and transition to active growth, ripening and ageing, as well as methods of operating these mechanisms in order to protect harvested crops against infectious diseases and functional disorders, premature sprouting and overripening. The necessity is substantiated by combining various methods: active ventilation, artificial refrigeration, controlling gaseous medium, physiologically active substances, ionizing radiation, and other factors, since methods which protect from one source of losses can facilitate the development of other kinds of losses. Of crucial importance is the utilization of the resistance mechanisms of the plant tissues themselves.