Aeration to Manage Insects in Wheat Stored in the Balkan Peninsula: Computer Simulations Using Historical Weather Data

William R Morrison,Lloyd Ted Wilson,Yubin Yang,Jing Wang,Christos G Athanassiou,Frank H Arthur

doi:10.3390/agronomy10121927

William R Morrison, Lloyd Ted Wilson + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10121927

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Abstract

Wheat is one of the major crops throughout the Balkan peninsula of Europe. Specific harvest and binning dates can vary depending on the specific geographic region. Grain aeration, wherein ambient air is used at low-volume airflow rates to cool a grain mass to levels that will suppress insect population development, is an under-utilized component of pest management plans for stored wheat. The successful use of aeration can potentially reduce fumigation of stored wheat, which will contribute to the amelioration of increasingly prevalent phosphine resistance. Historical weather data were used from 19 sites in the Balkan region to predict how quickly grains could be cooled through the use of aeration, using a web-based aeration model, and three different starting dates, including 1, 15, and 30 July. The model was used to predict population growth and development of Sitophilus oryzae, the rice weevil, with and without the use of aeration. Results show that, in the northern regions of the Balkans, aeration implemented at the start of binning reduced insect populations far below pest levels in unaerated wheat, and may potentially eliminate the need for fumigations. In more southerly regions, additional chemical inputs, such as fumigation or grain protectants, may be necessary in conjunction with aeration. Results provide guidelines for the increased potential of using aeration for the management of wheat produced and stored in the Balkan peninsula.

Highlights

Aeration is used as part of many integrated pest management plans for stored grains in the temperate regions of North and South America, continental Europe and Asia, and Australia [1,2,3,4,5].The practice of using aeration is generally defined as utilizing ambient air to cool a grain mass to temperatures that will not support insect population growth and development [6]
The mapping procedure showed there were few hours below 15 ◦ C in August throughout much of the southern and eastern Balkan region, but cooling could be initiated in the northernmost regions, including the country of Slovenia (Figure 1A)
Our results showed that in the warmer areas of the Balkan region, aeration alone may not be sufficient to limit S. oryzae population growth, with the early July start dates

Summary

Introduction

The practice of using aeration is generally defined as utilizing ambient air to cool a grain mass to temperatures that will not support insect population growth and development [6]. Most stored product insects do not develop at temperatures below 15 ◦ C [7,8], and this temperature is often a target for aeration management [9,10]. Typical aeration airflow rates in English and metric units are about 0.1 to. 0.3 ft3 /minute (min)/bushel, or 0.12 to 0.36 m3 /min/metric ton (MT), respectively [9]. These airflow rates are independent of the size of storage bin or silo, and assume the aeration equipment is properly sized. Aeration should not be confused with grain drying, which is done to remove excess moisture from grains after harvest, and involves airflow rates several orders of magnitude greater than those used for aeration [11]

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