Pest management in storage

1
Pest management in storage

• Joe Rickman and Martin Gummert,
• Agricultural Engineering,
• International Rice Research Institute, Philippines

2
Pest of stored grains

• Insects
• Pathogens (fungi)
• Rodents
• Birds

3
Ideal Conditions for pest

• Environment Conditions
• Temperature 20 - 40oC
• Relative humidity 60-70
• Mixing grain lots
• old and new
• Time
• Longer storage gtno insects

4
Common Post harvest insects

• Lesser grain borer (Rhzopertha dominica),
• Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae),
• Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella),
• Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum)
• Lifecycle
• Beetles 15-18 days
• Moths 28 - 35 days

5
Management of insect pests
6
Harvesting and drying

• Grain moisture content (12-14)
• Minimize cracked and broken grain during
  processing
• Dont mix old and new grain

7
Cleaning and disinfesting the storage system

• Clean storage - containers, structures, equipment
  and bags
• May need to treat with insecticide
• Malathion (50EC) at 5ml/20l of water _at_20ml/m2,
• Fenitrothion (50EC) at 5ml/l water _at_20ml/m2,
• Deltamethrin (2.5 WP) at 1.5g/l water _at_20ml/m2

8
Treat infected grain

• Grain treatment
• Insecticide- malathion
• Fumigation
• phosphine,
• carbon dioxide
• Physical
• Heat lt 15, gt55 (15mins)
• Impact
• pneumatic conveyers
• Diatomaceous earth
• dehydration

9
Sealing the system(low oxygen system)
10
Live Insect Counts (Insects/ kg)
8.4
11
Bag dipping (Live Insects/kg)
12
Rats

• Species
• Black rat or House rat (Rattus rattus)
• Norway rat or Common rat (Rattus norvegicus)
• House mouse (Mus musculus)
• Damage
• Feed on grain
• rats 25 gm of food per day,
• mice 3-4 gm per day
• Spoilage and contamination of grain
• Damage materials tarpaulins, bags, electric
  cables

13
Rat management

• Keep the store clean-remove any spilt grain
• Store bags in tidy stacks set up on pallets,
• Store any empty or old bags and fumigation sheets
  on pallets, and if possible in separate stores!
• Keep the store free of rubbish Bum or bury it!
• Keep the area surrounding the store free of tall
  weeds
• Keep the area in the vicinity of the store free
  of any stagnant water

14
Fungi

• Most common
• Aspergillus and Penicillium
• Grain spoilage and mycotoxins (poisonous)
• Determined by
• Moisture content of the stored grain
• Temperature
• Condition of the grain going into storage
• Length of time the is grain stored and
• Amount of insect and mite activity in the grain.

15
Fungi

• Control
• Moisture content (12-14)
• Heat
• dry heat at 65oC for 6 days
• hot water treatment at 52-55oC
• Fungicides
• Dithane M-45 and Benlate at 3 grams kg-1.

16
Storage Hygiene

• Keep storage areas clean.
• Clean storage rooms after they are emptied
• Placing rat-traps and barriers in drying and
  storage areas. Cats deter and help control rats
  and mice
• Inspect storage room regularly to keep it vermin
  proof.
• Inspect the stored seeds once a week for signs of
  insect infestation.

17
Priorities Management Options

• Good hygiene -cleanliness in store, clean bags
• Hermetic storage
• Bag dipping
• Phosphine tablets
• Fumigation-last resort