Evaluation of postharvest preservation strategies for stored wheat seed in Ethiopia

Limited information exists on postharvest preservation strategies of stored wheat in Ethiopia. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of on-the shelf postharvest storage strategies of stored wheat in the country. The experiment consisted of eight treatments; (1) metal silos, (2) Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags, (3) Super GrainPro bags, (4) industrial filter cake dust applied to wheat in polypropylene bag, (5) plastic drums, 6) Triplex applied to wheat in polypropylene bag, 7) Triplex applied to wheat in plastic drum, and 8) polypropylene bag as control. Measurements of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, live adults of insects per kg, percentage seed damage, and percentage of weight loss, germination and seedling vigor were determined every two months for six months. Results indicated that storage strategies such as PICS and Super GrainPro bags, filter cake, Triplex, and plastic drums led to a significantly lower live insect density compared to the control. Besides, Triplex and filter cake dust or use of hermetic bags also resulted in a significantly lower rate of seed weight loss (%) compared to the control. After six months of storage, means ± SD germination of seed from the polypropylene bag (control) had decreased to 68.0 ± 6.1% while wheat in all other storage strategies exhibited means ± SD germination capacity ranging from 92.0 ± 3.6% to 98.0 ± 1.0%. The present results demonstrate the potential of preserving stored wheat without relying on synthetic insecticides by using hermetic bags, filter cake, and Triplex, with advantages over traditional strategies used by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. We recommend that hermetic bags, filter cake dust, and Triplex powder should be promoted for use by farmers for the postharvest preservation of their stored wheat.