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Storage of grains is a major post-harvest process to preserve food production and protect farmers from post-harvest losses. Proper food storage and distribution can eradicate storage problems to a greater extent. The field crops contain a large number of pests and weeds that may cause diseases if not managed properly. These pests are the main cause of post-harvest losses which is about 10% of the cost of total yield.
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Keyterms: Grains, Yield, Food production, Weeds, FCI, Refrigerator, Pandemics, Famines, Abiotic factors, Biotic factors
Also Read: Nutrient Management
Importance of Food Storage
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Food storage is important for a country. Some major importance of food storage are:
- Storage of food is more economical than the other consequences of crop damage.
- The FCI (Food Corporation of India) or any other such agencies can store food safely and can later supply the stock to fulfill the never-lasting demand for food.
- Food storage helps farmers against losses as the government buys the stored food at MSPs instead of complete wastage.
- Food storage increases the shelf life of food items. The life span of food items like vegetables and meat can be increased by storing them in cold stores or refrigerators that help in preserving them from decaying and fulfilling the demand of consumers.
- Proper storage of food items helps to maintain uniform distribution of food throughout the year across a large population in different geo-locations of the country.
- Food storage is also useful in case of drought, pandemics, and famines.
- Food storage helps to overcome the situation of food shortage.
- Stored food can also be exported that protect them from decaying and help to generate revenue in case of excess production.
Food Storage Chart
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Factors Affecting Storage of Grains
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About 10% of food grains get damaged every year on average due to loss during their storage. It might seem less but a huge quantity of food gets wasted countrywide. Various factors affect food storage and some of them are described below. They are categorized as biotic and abiotic factors.
Biotic Factors
Biotic components refer to biotic components or living beings that destroy food crops. Pests, weeds, insects, and rodents are the common organisms that destroy grains. Around 100 species of insects adversely affect the stored food grains. Grains like wheat, barley, rice, millet, pulses, nuts, maize, dry fruits, etc are commonly attacked by insects like Rice moth, beetle, Rice flour beetle, Indian meal moth, etc.
A major grain destroyer is a fungus that affects food quality. And some fungi and molds like Penicillium and Aspergillus not only destroy the crops but also make them poisonous by releasing some toxins which cannot be further consumed, not even by animals. These toxins cannot be removed by any purification process. Excretory and different wastes of these insects, if remain on the surface of the grain is considered to be very harmful.
Biotic Factors Affecting Shelf Life of Grains
Abiotic Compounds
There are also some abiotic compounds i.e. non-living beings that affect the stored grains. Factors like air, humidity, and temperature affect the crops. The unbalanced quantity and quality of these factors may severely affect the stored grains.
Role of Temperature in Grain Storage
The temperature of warehouses and granaries are major factors that determine the extent of loss during food storage. When the grains are stored at high temperatures, they may sweat and fungus, and molds may develop making the whole feedstock poisonous.
Aeration can be used to maintain temperature. The natural flow of air in the storage area helps to prevent sweating and lower the temperature. Maintenance of temperature is a must to protect the stored food grains. Grains must be cooled before storage, this will help to maintain the quality and quantity of stored grains.
Temperature Effects on Stored Grains
Role of Moisture in Grain Storage
Moisture is a major factor that affects the safety of stored grains. Warm and moist conditions are favourable for different biotic components like insects, moulds, fungi, pests, etc to flourish. Moisture causes discoloration of grains and reduces their quality. The moisture content needs to be regularly checked in the stored grains. Electronic moisture measuring machines are also available these days which minimizes human involvement.
Potential Damage to Food Storage
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If the food grains are not stored properly using effective measures, it may cause a severe effect to the crops. This will eventually affect the progress of farmers and the country itself. Damages may be direct or indirect
Direct Damage: Direct damages are caused due to insects and pests that damage the grains by making them hollow, causing a foul smell, discoloration of grains, or reduction in weight of grains.
Indirect Damage: Indirect damage might be caused by consuming the infected grains which are poisonous and harmful to the health of consumers.
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Things to Remember
Need of Grain Storage
- To fulfil the demand of consumers
- To minimize post-harvest losses
- To get maximum earning on the produced agricultural product
- To protect food items from being wasted
- Stored grain can be used to harvest as seeds in next season
- Stored grains can also be exported to foreign countries
- They can also be sold to large industries as good prices
Factors Affecting Grain Storage
- Biotic components: Rice moth, beetle, Rice flour beetle, Indian meal moth, etc.
- Abiotic components: Role of temperature, Role of moisture
Damages During Storage
- Direct damage: Due to insects and pests that damage the grains
- Indirect damage: Caused by consuming the infected grains which are poisonous
- The average loss of food items due to improper storage is about 10% of total production
Sample Questions
Ques. How were grains stored traditionally? (1 Mark)
Ans. Previously, farmers used to store the grains in air-tight containers after properly drying them. Dried leaves were also enclosed to work as antifungals. Grains were stored at moderate temperatures and no chemical method was applied.
Ques. Is stored food harmful to health? (2 Marks)
Ans. Answer completely depends upon the methods used for storage. If the chemicals are used to preserve grains for a long time, they may affect the quality of stock as well as the health of consumers but if storage is done in the traditional way, the grains are not harmful unless attacked by insects and pests.
Ques. Mention Some Methods of Storing the Grains from Insects. (3 Marks)
Ans. There are various methods of storage that can be followed to prevent the attack of insects.
These methods are mentioned below-
- Godowns should be properly cleaned. There should not be any crevices.
- There should be no moisture in the storage rooms and containers. Everything should be dried properly before storing the grains.
- There must be proper aeration and temperature and moisture must be checked and controlled.
- The use of chemical fumigations in the storage rooms and containers helps in getting rid of pests and other microbes. Various chemicals are available in the market for fumigation.
Ques. How should the grains be stored to protect from insects? (3 Marks)
Ans. Grains should be stored by following procedures:
- Cleaning the warehouses and godowns before the storage of grains
- Drying the warehouses, containers as well as grains properly before storing them
- Ensuring proper aeration and temperature maintenance
- Fumigation must be done prior to storage
Ques. What factors must be taken care of to ensure proper storage of good yield of crops? (3 Marks)
Ans. Some of the preventive measures that should be taken are:
- Clean the crops before storing them
- Properly dry the crops to make them moisture free and stop the growth of microbes
- Use neem leaves and other antifungals for small scale storage
- Use pest control chemicals to avoid growth of pesticides.
Ques. What are the damages caused by temperature effects? (3 Marks)
Ans. Some of the damages that may be caused are:
- Degradation of quality in grains
- Loss in weight of grains
- Poor germinability
- Discoloration of product
Ques. Large amounts of food grains get spoiled every year in India due to improper storage of food grains. How can this be avoided? (4 Marks)
Ans. Food grains get spoiled by insects, fungi, rodents, bacteria, moisture, temperature in the place of storage.
Storage losses can be minimised by following preventive and control measures.
- The seeds/grains that are to be stored should be dry, with no moisture in it.
- The grains should be cleaned.
- The grains should be fumigated using chemicals that kill pests.
- The storage houses should be waterproof.
- The grains should be stored in sealed gunny bags or metal containers,
- The bags should be stacked in order i.e. in a pile for proper fumigation, and should be kept a few centimetres away from the wall.
- The ventilators if any should be closed tightly, to avoid birds visiting the storage house and destroying the grains.
- The walls and the floor should be water-proof with no holes in it, to avoid rodents, pests.
Ques. Study the graph and answer the following questions:
(i) In which recent year foodgrain stock with the government was maximum?
(ii) What was the minimum buffer stock norm in 2012?
(iii) Why were the FCI granaries overflowing with foodgrains?
(iv) What is buffer stock?
(v) Why is there general consensus that a high level of buffer stock of foodgrains is very undesirable? (5 Marks)
Ans.
- July, 2012.
- 33 million tonnes.
- The PDS or the Public Distribution System has failed to distribute food grains through the fair price shops.
- A stock of foodgrains procured by the government to distribute in deficit areas and among the poor strata of society.
- The higher level of buffer stock can be wasteful. The storage of massive food stock has been responsible for high carrying costs in addition to wastage and deterioration in grain quality.
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