Storage of farmer's wheat seed using commodity modified atmosphere technique
2010
Famil Momen, Reza
In view of problems associated with procurements of high quality wheat seed by small farmers, an attempt was made to design a low cost Air-tight bin for storage of wheat at farm level. Initial disinfestations of cleaned wheat seed Cultivar Pishtaz was carried out using dry ice. The disinfested seed was then stored in air tight Polyethylene bin with the capacity of about 2000 Kg, using commodity modified atmosphere technique(CMA) for duration of 24 months. During the course of investigation changes in percent moisture content, O2 and CO2 level, germination capacity and mortality of adults of Trogoderma granarium (Everst.) was recorded. Results showed that moisture content from its initial value of 9.5 % was increased to maximum of 9.91 at the end of 12 months and to 10.40 % at the end of 24 months storage period, whereas germination capacity from its initial value of 94% was dropped to 91% after 12 months and to 88% after 24 months. Other results indicate that concentration of atmospheric O2 was dropped to 11.26% at the end of 12 months and further to 5.6 % at the end of 24 months of storage, whereas CO2 level increased from its atmospheric level to 12.2 % at the end of 12 months and to 14.5 % at the end of 24 months of storage. No live insect activity was noticed during the first at second year of storage, 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. Therefore 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.
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