Sustainability Of Indigenous Post Harvest Technology Among Maize Crop Farming
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Sustainability Of Indigenous Post Harvest Technology Among Maize Crop Farming
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Maize is an important food staple in developing countries around the world, particularly in Africa. Maize is mostly grown in Africa using IK (Hart & Vorster, 2006:1). In Africa and other developing countries, agricultural development is often viewed as dependent on foreign factors (Hart & Vorster, 2006:1).
This assumption ultimately misses the roles of persons with indigenous knowledge and the impact they can have on the process of agricultural development (Hart & Vorster, 2006:2).
Storage
Storage is an essential aspect of the food maize manufacturing cycle. Humans have used raw and processed maize, including legumes, to ensure food security owing to limited availability and to withhold seed maize for extended periods of time. Maize storage and handling are key issues for pulse producers and processors globally.
When stored properly, pulses can remain edible for several years. However, during ambient storage conditions, maize undergoes a variety of physical, chemical, and biological changes.
The primary benefit of proper storage is that it creates climatic conditions that protect the product from diurnal and seasonal changes in outside temperature and relative humidity while also maintaining its quality (Cox and Collins, 2002).
Intrinsic and external factors influence both the quality and quantity of pulse maize, with temperature and moisture content having the greatest impact on shelf life. Temperature and moisture conditions have a significant impact on maize viability and biological agent reproduction (White, 1995).
Improper storage conditions affect pulses’ post-harvest storability. Various pests and bacteria attack pulses and their products after harvest, during storage, and during transportation to markets. Pesticides leave chemical residues in food that are particularly dangerous to human health.
Establishing efficient and effective post-production storage systems is necessary to reduce qualitative and quantitative losses (Mohan et al., 2011). Storage is critical in the food supply chain, and various studies have found that highest losses occur during this process (Bala et al., 2010; Majumder et al., 2016).
In most regions, crops are planted seasonally, and after harvesting, maize is kept for short or extended periods of time as food reserves and seeds for the following season.
According to studies, in developing nations such as India, around 50-60% of maize is preserved in traditional structures (e.g., Kanaja, Kothi, Sanduka, Gummi Kacheri) and earthen pots at the household and farm level for self-consumption and seed.
Indigenous storage structures are composed of locally accessible materials (grass, wood, mud) and lack scientific design, making it unable to provide long-term insect protection for harvests.
According to Costa (2014), maize losses of up to 59.48% have been documented after 90 days of storage in typical storage structures (granary/aerated bags).
Hermetic storage.
Hermetic storage is a modified atmosphere (MA) that can be used to protect maize. It is also known as “sealed storage,” “airtight storage,” “sacrificial sealed storage,” or “biogenerated MA.”
This method makes use of sufficiently sealed structures that allow insects and other aerobic organisms in the commodity or the commodity itself to generate MA by reducing O2 and increasing CO2 concentrations via respiratory metabolism, thereby preventing insect development (Navarro, 2012).
In other words, hermetic storage (HS), also known as “sealed storage” or “airtight storage,” is gaining favour in poor nations as a technique of storing cereal, pulses, coffee, and cocoa beans due to its efficacy and lack of chemical and pesticide use.
Using sealed waterproof bags or structures, the approach automatically modifies the environment to have a high carbon dioxide content. Because the structures are airtight, the biotic portion of maize (insects and aerobic microorganisms) develops a self-inhibitory environment over time by raising carbon dioxide content (oxygen lowers) through respiratory metabolism.
Some investigations have found that high CO2 concentrations limit Aspergillus flavus’s ability to produce aflatoxin (Tefera et al., 2011; Adler et al., 2000).
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