Safe storage of maize in alternative hermetic containers |
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| Affiliation: | 1. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), P.O. Box 1041-00621, Nairobi, Kenya;2. Gent University College, Gent, Belgium;1. Soil Science & Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe, Box MP 167 Harare, Zimbabwe;2. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK;1. Department of Food Science and Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya;2. International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya;3. Department of Dairy, Food Science and Technology, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya;4. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, P.O. Box 320, Bamako, Mali;1. National Institute for Agricultural Research in Niger (INRAN), Maradi, Niger;2. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kano, Nigeria;3. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Cotonou, Benin;4. Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;5. International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;1. Seed Physiology Lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan;2. Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan;3. Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA |
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| Abstract: | Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags have been developed and extended as a way to address grain storage issues faced by smallholder farmers in developing nations. A hermetic technology, PICS bags reduce insect damage to grain significantly while maintaining its quality for many months or longer. Farmers with varying and often small volumes of grain at harvest, may still benefit from alternatives to PICS bags for storing their grain. We evaluated plastic bottles, which may be hermetically sealed, for storing maize grain. Clean maize grain was stored for eight months in sealed and unsealed plastic bottles with half of these bottles being infested by maize weevil (Sitophilus zemais, Motschulsky). Oxygen levels in the bottles were monitored throughout the trial and grain was assessed for moisture content, insect damage, germination rate and insect population size when the study was terminated. Sealed bottles preserved grain quality significantly better than unsealed, infested bottles and as well as non-infested unsealed containers. Plastic soda bottles can be used as hermetic containers for safely storing grain. |
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| Keywords: | PICS Hermetic storage Plastic soda bottles |
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