Efficacy of PVC coated fabric bag for on-farm storage of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 89(11), 56-60.

Abstract

A PVC coated fabric bag was evaluated for on-farm storage of wheat grains for 8 months without any fumigation. It was compared with fumigated samples stored in a metal bin of the same capacity, a common practice among farmers. Environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity (RH) and level of carbon dioxide (CO2) of the PVC coated fabric bag and surroundings were monitored throughout the storage period. The level of interstitial temperature, RH and CO2 in PVC coated fabric bag were in the range of 15.2-37.7°C, 28.5-40.6% and 406-5764 ppm respectively. Quality parameters of stored wheat in both structures were analysed periodically (0, 2, 6, 8 months) in 8 months of storage. After 2 months of storage, no significant difference was observed between the quality parameters of samples stored in both structures; however, at the end of 8 months of storage, thousand kernel weight (57.8 g), mold count (39.8×101CFU/g), moisture content (10.7%), besatz (5.3%) and bored grain (1.6%) were significantly higher in the PVC coated fabric bag samples compared to the control samples, whereas germination percentage was reduced to 76.7% from 96.7% in PVC coated fabric bag. Nevertheless, the quality of grain was within the acceptable consumable quality limit as per codex standards due to bored grains less than 1.5%. The detected insects were Rhizopertha dominica and Tribolium castaneum and the former was dominant with a population density of 16 insects kg-1 as contrast to the former, which had a population density of 1 insect kg-1 after 6 months of storage.