Low permeability triple-layer plastic bags prevent losses of maize caused by insects in rural on-farm stores

Jeremiah Ng’ang’a, Christopher Mutungi, Samuel M. Imathiu and Hippolyte Affognon ()
Additional contact information
Jeremiah Ng’ang’a: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Christopher Mutungi: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
Samuel M. Imathiu: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Hippolyte Affognon: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, 2016, vol. 8, issue 3, No 14, 633 pages

Abstract: Abstract Participatory on-farm trials were conducted to assess effectiveness of Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS™) bags for storage of maize in small-scale farmers’ stores in rural villages in eastern Kenya. A PICS bag is a three-layered hermetic bag-system that forms a barrier against the influx of oxygen and the escape of carbon dioxide. Jute, woven polypropylene or PICS bags were filled with shelled maize grain, purchased from the participating farmers, and the three sets of bags kept in the farmers’ own stores for 35 weeks. Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the PICS bags were monitored, as well as the temperature and relative humidity in all the bags. Grain moisture, live insect population, grain damage and weight loss were examined at intervals of seven weeks. Oxygen and carbon dioxide composition demonstrated that PICS bags are capable of sustaining good air-barrier properties under farmer storage conditions. Moreover, moisture content of maize stored in PICS bags did not change throughout the storage period whereas the moisture content of maize stored in polypropylene and jute bags decreased significantly in the final 14 weeks. Maize stored in PICS bags remained free from insect infestation and the weight loss due to insect damage was below 1 %. On the contrary, polypropylene and jute bags permitted profuse build-up of insect populations. At 35 weeks, grain damage reached 77.6 % and 82.3 % corresponding to 41.2 % and 48.5 % weight loss in the polypropylene and jute bags respectively. These findings demonstrate that PICS bags are effective in controlling losses caused by storage pests under farmer storage conditions.

Keywords: Maize; On-farm; Storage losses; Hermetic bags (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-016-0567-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:8:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s12571-016-0567-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ulture/journal/12571

DOI: 10.1007/s12571-016-0567-9

Access Statistics for this article

Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is currently edited by R.N. Strange

More articles in Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food from Springer, The International Society for Plant Pathology
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().