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Storage of potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) tubers at 8–12 °C (depending on the countries either 8–10 or 10–12 °C) with 85–90 % RH in cold stores is common practice because at this storage temperature the accumulation of sugars is minimum and potatoes remain suitable for processing. This temperature is however, also suitable for sprout growth and therefore, use of a sprout suppressant becomes essential. Isopropyl N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate (CIPC) is the most commonly used sprout suppressant used in potatoes. It is applied in the form of aerosol on the stored potatoes as a Post-harvest application. The possibility of using glyphosate as a pre-harvest foliar application on the potato crop to check the sprout growth of potatoes during subsequent storage has been reviewed in this article. Relative comparison between CIPC and glyphosate showed that glyphosate is safer in terms of lower mammalian toxicity with respect to oral LD50, contaminant level for human toxicity (long-term), acceptable daily intake limit (for human body) and acceptable residue limit (for human consumption). Comparatively, CIPC is more harmful to birds, fishes and other aquatic animals, worms and the environment. There are growing concerns regarding degradation products/metabolites of CIPC as they are more toxic and cytolytic in nature. Practical aspects such as cost of the chemical, application cost and ease of application also favor the glyphosate. Higher water solubility of glyphosate over the CIPC and its metabolites is also a point, as this can assist in minimizing the residue levels of glyphosate either in processed or cooked potato tubers. It is proposed that outcome of the further research work, especially on the suggested lines, may help in developing glyphosate as an alternative/supplementary to CIPC for its use as sprout suppressant on potatoes stored at 8–12 °C.

Global efforts to reduce the emissions require proper monitoring and understanding of the carbon inputs and outputs by the terrestrial ecosystems i.e. vegetation and soil. Photosynthesis and net primary productivity can be used as indicators of carbon exchange and their estimate can be made through traditional approaches as well as other approaches e.g. mechanistic photosynthesis models and the light use efficiency with satellite data. Advancements have taken place for monitoring the CO2exchange at different scales viz. leaf, stand-, landscape levels, vertical carbon column- and satellite observations. There are methods to partition the fluxes based on discrimination of isotopes of carbon by terrestrial ecosystem processes. The soil is a vast reservoir of carbon and has a great potential for atmospheric carbon sequestration. Monitoring of carbon and fluxes in soil is therefore an essential aspect in the era of changing climate. The root systems are monitored mostly in a destructive manner but many non-destructive methods have also been devised. Similarly, soil carbon estimation with traditional chemical method can be replaced by reflectance spectroscopy for rapid and large area estimations. Measurement of soil respiration and its partitioning also helps in verifying the capacity of soil as a net source or net sink. Monitoring of the pools and fluxes therefore uses multi-technique and -disciplinary approaches. Uncertainties in the estimates occur due to the multi-factorial effects and have implications on carbon trading. Therefore more effective monitoring and reduction of the uncertainties is needed.