03 Oct Indigenous practices for Safe and economical storage of food grains using locally available materials.
स्थानीय सामग्री का उपयोग करके अनाज के सुरक्षित और किफायती भंडारण के लिए स्वदेशी प्रथाऐं। Keeping in mind the importance and high demand of cereals for consumption, their proper storage must not be neglected. The post-harvest damage caused during storage is mainly due to infestation by storage pest causes huge quality losses in food grains combined with economic losses. This damage may be due to direct feeding of grains by insects and pests or by microbiological agents like fungi and bacteria. The post-harvest losses of food grains and oilseeds are estimated to be 10 to 20 per cent in India (Chahal, 2011). India experiences severe losses in storage of food grains, as per the official records economic loss to the tune of 11,700 tons of food grains was reported to have occurred in the government godowns during 2010 alone (Chahal, 2011). Through use of proper pest management practices the above storage losses can be minimized effectively. Different causative agents are moulds and insects which cause economic and quality losses during storage, some of the methods practiced by rural house-holds from ancient times and use of some plant products for safe and economic storage of food grains along with detailed procedure are being discussed here in this article. Types of pest causing infestation: Fungi: Fungi are...