Abstract
Simple SummarySmallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa lose grain to insect pests during storage. To reduce these losses, several storage technologies are available for sale in East Africa; but only a few are marketed in West Africa. We assessed the performance of four types of hermetic bags (SuperGrainbagTM, AgroZ® bag, EVALTM, and Purdue Improved Crop Storage-PICSTM bags), as well as an insecticide-treated woven bag (ZeroFly®), and a polypropylene (PP) woven bag. The trials sought to determine if these technology packages prevent losses of insect-infested maize purchased in local markets in northern Benin. After seven months of storage, we found that maize stored in hermetic bags did not suffer further damage or lose weight due to insects. By contrast, grain stored in insecticide-treated and regular PP woven bags had weight losses of 6.3% and 10.3%, respectively. Grain moisture content of maize kept in hermetic bags remained unchanged during the 7-month storage period. However, moisture content decreased by about 30% in insecticide-treated and PP woven bags due to the prevailing dry environmental conditions. Farmers and development agencies in the Sahel can use and/or recommend these hermetic technologies to reduce maize grain storage losses due to insects.Several postharvest technologies are currently being commercialized to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa reduce grain storage losses. We carried out a study in Northern Benin to compare the effectiveness of five technologies being sold to protect stored grain. Maize that had been naturally infested by insects was stored in four hermetic storage technologies (SuperGrainbag™, AgroZ® bag, EVAL™, and Purdue Improved Crop Storage-PICS™ bags), an insecticide impregnated bag (ZeroFly®), and a regular polypropylene (PP) woven bag as control. Oxygen levels in hermetic bags fluctuated between 0.5 ± 0.0 (v/v) and 1.0 ± 0.3 (v/v) percent during the seven months of storage. No weight loss or insect damage was observed in grain stored in any of the hermetic storage bags after seven months. However, grain stored in ZeroFly® and PP woven bags had weight losses of 6.3% and 10.3%, respectively. These results will help farmers and development agencies when making decisions to use and/or promote storage technologies to reduce postharvest grain losses.
Highlights
Maize is a major staple food crop in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa
No P. truncatus population was observed in PP woven bags and ZeroFly® storage bag treatment at the end of the experiment
The five insect pests that were present in maize grain at the trial set-up were P. truncatus, S. zeamais, R. dominica, T. castaneum, and C. ferrugineus
Summary
Significant crop losses can occur during postharvest handling and storage. Insects 2020, 11, 541 a variety of measures including traditional methods, applying chemicals, or selling their grain soon after harvest. Many of the storage methods used by farmers have challenges. These include limited access and cost-effectiveness, lack of scalability, and in some cases, they are not adapted to local situations. Selling grain right after harvest results in loss of potential income and food insecurity at the household level. Some smallholder farmers sell most of their grain due to households’ needs for cash after harvest [11], resulting in food insecurity in subsequent months. Storing grain provides an opportunity to be food secure and allows farmers to tap into better grain prices
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