a building or other structure for storing fresh root crops, cabbages, and onions. A vegetable storehouse may be a temporary or permament structure. Temporary storehouses, which include clamps and trenches, are used when a farm lacks permanent storage facilities or has insufficient storing capacity. Root crops, cabbage, and a number of other vegetables are stored in clamps and trenches. Permanent vegetable storehouses are single-story buildings, which are usually rectangular in plan. They have special sections for storing cabbage, onions, and such root crops as beets, turnips, and carrots. The vegetables are stored at or below ground level. Underground storage facilities, or cellars, are marked by good heat insulation and rather stable storage conditions. However, they can be built only where the groundwater is no closer than 2.5–3 m from the ground surface. Ground-level storehouses are built in southern regions, which require less heat insulation, and in regions where the groundwater is close to the ground surface. Onion storehouses are always at ground level.

In the USSR, vegetable storehouses for root crops and cabbage have a capacity from 250 to 3,000 tons. Between 50 and 1,000 tons of onions may be stored. Cabbage is stored in a pile without bins or in containers, and onions and root crops are stored in bins or crates (in boxes holding 20–25 kg or in containers holding 250–400 kg). On kolkhozes and sovkhozes, vegetable storehouses are built with a central entrance measuring 3.5–6 m across. Along both sides are bins and auxiliary rooms for electrical equipment, fans, and refrigeration units. There are entryways and rooms for sorting the vegetables. A storehouse may be 12 to 36 m wide, 24 to 72 m long, and 3.6 or 4.2 m high. Root crops (with the exception of carrots) may be stacked as high as 4 m; carrots, cabbage, and onions may be stacked as high as 3 m. The containers and boxes are also stacked.

The exterior walls of a storehouse are made from brick, stone, or concrete block; insulated reinforced concrete or metal panels may also be used. In storehouses below ground level, the walls are banked with earth and sodded; a clay “lock” and an asphalt or concrete gully are built along the walls for protection against moisture. The interior load-bearing structures (columns, beams, girders, and roof slabs) are prefabricated and made of reinforced concrete or metal. The spacing of the columns is from 6 × 6 to 6 × 24 m. The roof, which usually does not have an attic, is insulated by steam. It has a heater and is protected by roofing paper. The floors of the storehouses are earthen or made of asphalt-concrete, concrete, or wood. The bins are usually wooden; sometimes they are made of reinforced concrete or brick. The interior of the storehouse is limed, and the metal parts are galvanized and covered with oil paint.

Cabbage and root crops are stored at a temperature from – 1° to 1°C, with the temperature being maintained by forced ventilation. The air is supplied by conduits under the floor. Because onions are dried in the storehouse in bins, heated air is delivered through conduits to the vegetables. The dried onions ae then stored at a temperature from – 3° to 0°C; the temperature is maintained by forced ventilation. Flues in the roof are built to release warm humid air from the storehouse. In storehouses where packaged products are stored, forced general-exchange ventilation is provided. In southern regions, the air being exchanged is cooled with special coolers. Storage conditions are kept stable by an automatic control system. Methods have been developed for storing cabbage and carrots in a controllable gas medium, with a reduced oxygen concentration and an increased carbon dioxide concentration in comparison with the air.

The loading and unloading of vegetables in modern vegetable storehouses have been completely mechanized. Both general-purpose mechanisms (conveyer belts, lifters, loaders) and special machinery (pickers, sorting devices) are used.