Integrated Control of Stored Products Pests: How to Protect Your Stored Products?

Stored products include all durable agricultural commodities that can be dried and stored in bulk, such as cereal grains, flour, oil seeds, legumes, nuts, dried fruits, animal products, and packaged, baked or processed foods. Of these, cereal grains make up the majority of commodities maintained in storage, and represent an important component of the world food supply. Recent post harvest losses have been estimated at $5 billion per year in the U. S. (mainly due to insects and microbes, which usually work in concert), with these being proportionally higher in developing countries. Insecticides can be used to protect grain, but few are labelled for use on grain, and insects are evolving resistance to some of these. Early attempts to control stored grain pests relied on methods such as mixing dry soil and wood ash with the grain causing lethal dehydration of insects, and the fumigant action of certain plant material (Levinson and Levinson, 1998). Researchers at universities and government agencies are looking for alternatives to chemical pesticides (including biological controls and microbial for grain protection and to develop methods of IPM for stored product