Evaluation of most suitable Storage facility for Preservation of Rapeseed

In view of problems associated with procurements of high quality seed by small farmers, a low cost Air-tight Polyethylene bin with the capacity of about 2000 Kg was developed for use at farm level. Canola seed Cultivar Namely: Zarfam and RGS003 were used to study the effect of Commodity Modified Atmosphere (CMA) technique on preservation of quality during 18 months of storage. Changes in percent moisture content, O2 and CO2 level, germination capacity and Free Fatty Acid content of stored seeds were recorded and the results were compared with the seeds stored in 50 kg plastic bags. Results showed that overall moisture changes in case of control was function of % RH of surrounding area in different season, whereas moisture changes in case of Air-tight bins was negligible. Germination capacity for Cultivar Zarfam dropped from its initial value of 97% to 93, 89 and 87% after 6, 12 and 18 months respectively and in case of control to 93, 89 and 76 during same period. Also germination capacity for Cultivar RGS003 dropped from its initial value of 96% to 94, 91 and 89% after 6, 12 and 18 months respectively and in case of control to 91, 87 and 79 during same period. Other results indicate that concentration of atmospheric O2 was dropped to 11.9, 10.7 and 8.4 after 6, 12 and 12months respectively. The changes in free fatty acid content of Zarfam cultivar in air-tight bin was increased from its initial value of 0.29% to maximum of 0.56, 0.87 and 1.4% after 6, 12 and 18 months of storage respectively as compared to 1.1, 1.92 and 2.24 in case of control. Also changes in FFA content of cultivar RGS003 in air-tight bin showed an increase from its initial value of 0.35% to maximum of 0.63, 1.3 and 1.52% after 6, 12 and 18 months of storage respectively as compared to 1.15, 2.05 and 2.48 in case of control. No live insect activity was noticed during the storage period which can be attributed to the high level of air tightness of the polyethylene bin and the effectiveness of commodity modified atmosphere in controlling insect activity. Finally it can be concluded that polyethylene bins with capacity of 2 tons may be considered a viable alternative to bag storage and can effectively be used by farmers.