Evaluation of traditional grain storage structures for efficacy against insect infestation

Abstract:

A surprising 14–18% of the global cereal harvest is lost between the farm gate and the consumer's plate, and insect damage during storage accounts for the largest single share of that loss ^[1]. This research compared four storage structures—jute bags, traditional mud silos, metal bins, and hermetic (triple-layer) bags—for their ability to prevent insect infestation and weight loss in wheat over a 12-month period at Rhine Valley College of Agriculture, Bonn, Germany, from October 2021 to September 2022. Hermetic bags held insect counts at 2.1 adults kg⁻¹ and weight loss at 3.1% after 12 months, compared with 47.8 adults kg⁻¹ and 32.8% loss in jute bags. Grain moisture and germination capacity remained within acceptable limits only in hermetic and metal-bin treatments. The per-tonne storage cost was lowest for hermetic bags (18.40 EUR) with a cost-effectiveness ratio 4.2× better than jute. These results support the adoption of hermetic bags as a low-cost alternative to chemical fumigation for smallholder cereal storage in temperate Europe.