Abstract
Grain production is an important component of food security in Kenya but due to environmental conditions that favor rapid growth of insect populations, farmers and other agricultural stakeholders face ongoing and novel challenges from crop and stored product pest insects. To assist development of methods to reduce economic losses from stored product insect pests in Kenya, acoustic, visual, and pitfall trap surveys were conducted in five grain storage warehouses. Two commercially available acoustic systems successfully detected the pests of greatest economic importance, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) and Prostephanus truncatus (Horn). Other insects of lesser economic importance also were observed in the visual surveys, including Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). This study demonstrated that the use of acoustic technology with visual surveys and pitfall traps can help managers to identify and target infestations within their warehouses, enabling them to reduce postharvest losses. With most warehouses being located in relatively noisy urban or peri-urban areas, background noise considerations are being incorporated into the design of future acoustic detectors for stored pest infestations. Kenya must import grain yearly to meet consumption needs; however, if the current yearly postharvest losses of 20–30% in warehouses decreased, import costs could be reduced considerably.
Highlights
Over $4 billion USD in food losses occur yearly in Africa due to inefficiencies in the chain of production, storage, and marketing activities that connects farmers to consumers [1]
P. truncatus and S. zeamais were present in four out of five, while T. castaneum was present in all five warehouses surveyed
It is notable that T. castaneum were found in high numbers at all five sites
Summary
Over $4 billion USD in food losses occur yearly in Africa due to inefficiencies in the chain of production, storage, and marketing activities that connects farmers to consumers [1]. Kenya has developed a Strategic Grain Reserve to store sufficient grain for release into markets if supplies fall below typical levels of consumption [2]. The government purchases backup maize yearly that can be released in an emergency. There is wide recognition that strategic grain reserves play a vital role in ensuring Kenyan food security. It is anticipated that the recent invasion of Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) [fall armyworm] into sub-Saharan Africa will lead to
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