Efficacy of Indigenous Knowledge and Selected Modified Storage Structures to Insect Pests of Maize during Home Storage: A Review

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L) is an important food crop in Ethiopia and is produced in a number of agro ecologies in the region. Despite the favorable environmental conditions for its production, maize is infected by several insect pests before and after harvest, due to poor pre- and post-harvest practices/handling. Farmers store the produce for two reasons; for home consumption and marketing. They may not accept improvements which incur costs when storing primarily for home consumption. Thus, this review will assess the use of indigenous knowledge and modified storage structures to store maize by controlling postharvest insect pests. The use of indigenous knowledge has been seen by many as an alternative way of promoting development in poor rural communities in many parts of the world. Most developing countries are in the tropics, often in areas of high rainfall and humidity. These conditions are ideal for the development of micro-organisms and insects which cause high levels of deterioration of crops in store. Food losses during storage are the result of biological, chemical or physical damage. In earlier times various indigenous items and methods were used for storage of household items including food items, clothing and bedding etc. The shelf life or storage span of items was increased using readily available and low cost items like mineral substances (ash, sand, table salt, camphor, and inert dust) and other different plant materials and they are the common methods adopted by majority of the rural farmers for storing the grains although majority of them are not aware of the reasons or qualities of these materials and are using them as age old wisdom. Modified storage structures such as hermetic storage, bamboo mat with mud plastering, jute bag with inner plastic lining, metal bins and others are another technique adopted by farmers for maize storage. So it can be concluded that many of the indigenous practices find credibility even in today’s period. Moreover, their user-friendly approach, local availability associated with scientific reasoning provides enjoyment and satisfaction to the users. It must therefore be encouraged to use only those eco-friendly practices that are known to be both safe and effective. These practices must be modified to make them more efficient for further transfer to the end users in the future.