Grain storage is a crucial component of the post-harvest chain. It is practised by farmers, traders and governments to facilitate marketing and ensure food security.

 

Larger grain borer infesting a maize grain © University of Greenwich

Staff of the Food Management and Marketing Group have long experience of pest and commodity management in tropical grain storage, they also work with UK-based clients. Research services in grain storage are provided to development agencies, NGOs and commercial companies.

 

Pure and applied research is undertaken using a multi-disciplinary approach that calls on the skills of biologists, chemists, and engineers. The involvement of statisticians, socioeconomists and anthropologists ensures good experimental design and optimal targeting of development needs. The Group operates a suite of laboratories and environmental rooms equipped to investigate insect behaviour, the action of protectants and to assess grain quality and contamination.

Key research areas

Improvements in pest management systems for farm and central storage including the design and implementation of rodent control programmes. Health and environmental issues, especially reducing the use of synthetic insecticides and the fumigant methyl bromide. Investigation of insect behaviour in relation to pest management, especially the use of insect pheromones and attractants. Development of systems to select grain varieties for resistance to storage pests. Design of quality grading systems and standards. Testing commodity packaging for resistance to insect pests. Grain store design and grain moisture and temperature management.

 

Researching better methods for protecting stored maize in Ghana © University of Greenwich

Opportunities exist for postgraduates to work with the upstream research programme, especially insect behaviour in relation to pest management. Current studies involve detailed behavioural analysis using the latest video imaging procedures as well measurement of the quantity and quality of behaviour modifying chemicals released by pests and simultaneous measurement of their effects on responding insects. Recent or current PhD research topics include the following:

• The pheromone biology of Rhyzopertha dominica.
• The response of Callosobruchus maculatus to new varieties of Vigna spp.
• Host selection behaviour of the LGB predator (Teretrius nigrescens).
• Phytochemistry and insecticidal action of African violet tree as a farm store protectant.
• The use of inert dusts for the protection of farm stored grain.

Staff

Dr Rick Hodges
Dr Steve Belmain
Jonathon Coulter
Ulrich Kleih
Tanya Stathers

Projects

Development of methodology for assessing the impact of rodents on rural household food security in Mozambique
This project will contribute to the purpose of developing and promoting effective and sustainable grain management systems. Specifically, the project will develop a methodology for assessing the impact of rodents on household food security, and their potential impact on health and nutrition of rural families. Control strategies will be based upon assessment and monitoring data for application on a village-wide basis.
Villages that have identified rodents as a serious constraint to their food security and/or health will be assessed and monitored for rodent activity. These assessments will be used to develop a rodent control programme on a village-wide basis that will aim to reduce the impact of rodents upon rural communities in consultation with the community. The assessment and monitoring strategy that is developed will be able to demonstrate that control strategies are having an impact upon the rodent population within the time-scale of the project.

 

Funded by DFID CPHP (1999-2002).
Project Leader Steve Belmain (S.R.Belmain@gre.ac.uk)

Development of IPM techniques for the control of Larger Grain Borer and management of grain stocks in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania
Infestation of farm stored maize in Africa by Larger Grain Borer (Prostephanus truncatus) is severe but sporadic. Elements of an integrated pest management programme were developed in Ghana for this pest in an earlier project and included a risk warning system using pheromone baited traps, a means of limiting the use of pesticides for better environmental and consumer health, and biological control of the pest. The current project will validate the risk warning system in Ghana and Tanzania and offer it as a useable package to the extension services; undertake further study of the method for reducing pesticide application to include farmer participatory trials in Ghana and Zimbabwe to develop useable packages for farmers; and investigate elements of the biology and relationship between P. truncatus and its predator Teretrius nigrescens to enable a better interpretation of the field data that has already been collected so that an assessment can be made of the extent to which the predator is having an impact on pest populations.

 

Funded by DFID CPHP (1999-2002).
Project Leader Rick Hodges(R.J.Hodges@gre.ac.uk)

 

Use of inert dusts for protection of stored grain in Zimbabwe
During the project diatomaceous earths were found to be an effective method of controlling post-harvest insect pests in maize, sorghum and cowpeas in Zimbabwe. Diatomaceous earths were found to be as effective as the synthetic insecticide, Actellic Super dust, providing farmers with a safer and more environmentally sustainable control method. Preliminary studies were also carried out on local sources of diatomaceous earths which were shown to provide effective control of storage pest insects, and deserve further attention. The project findings have implications for other semi-arid regions in Africa. However, until diatomaceous earths are registered as grain protectants in Zimbabwe more complete information on their acceptability to producers and consumers cannot be obtained. Temporary registration is currently being applied for, and a local company (EcoMark) is keen to register and distribute Protect-it, in Zimbabwe. Laboratory studies during the project have shown that higher concentrations of diatomaceous earths are required to control the Bostrichid beetles, Rhyzopertha dominica and Prostephanus trunctaus. Field trials in a P. truncatus infested area are needed to ascertain optimum rates and application methods of diatomaceous earths against this devastating storage pest.

 

Funded by DFID CPHP (1997-2000).
Project Leader Tanya Stathers (S.E.Stathers@gre.ac.uk)

 

Development of botanically derived materials for protection of stored produce in Ghana
Plant materials that have been ethnobotanically identified as food storage protectants in northern Ghana have shown variable activity in previous lab and field trials. This project will attempt to identify the factors which contribute to this variability as a means of standardising the usage of plant materials as storage protectants. Increased reliability of botanical insecticides will contribute to their promotion as a cheap and evironmentally sustainable alternative to synthetic pesticides. As part of the Crop Post-Harvest Programme, insecticidal plants are collected across temporal and spatial criteria with a view to assess quality and quantity control parameters associated with particular storage pest species. This is because previously conducted participatory research and feedback from farmers has indicated that the uptake of botanical pest control is constrained by the variability of control which can be experienced when farmers use plant materials. Many of the botanicals currently under investigation for stored product protection are also used by farmers for the protection of crops against field pests, including Azadirachta indica. Additional funding from the Crop Protection Programme is being used to screen this collection of samples against two major CPP target pests, diamond back moth, Plutella xylostella, and African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta, as a means of developing appropriate bioassays for assessing the efficacy of botanical products against these targets

 

Funded by DFID CPHP (1999-2002).
Project Leader Steve Belmain (S.R.Belmain@gre.ac.uk)

 

Commodities Fumigation in Indonesia
UNIDO is one of the agencies implementing projects supported by the Multilateral Fund to assist countries to phaseout ozone-depleting substances including methyl bromide. A UNIDO project to replace methyl bromide as a fumigant for stored commodities commenced in Indonesia in December 1999. The project includes the demonstration of alternative technologies to methyl bromide for disinfesting rice in bag stacks, and coffee and wood products in shipping containers. In addition to these demonstrations, there is a training course and two workshops. Much of the project programme had been established as a result of a visit to Indonesia by NRI in 1999.

 

Funded by UNIDO (2000).
Project Leader Rick Hodges (R.J.Hodges@gre.ac.uk)

Publications

BOXALL R., GOLOB P. & TAYLOR R. Pest management in farm granaries. Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK.

HODGES R.J. From dust to maize: overcoming the Larger Grain Borer in Africa. Video, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, 30 minutes.

BELMAIN S.R, NEAL G.E, RAY D.E, et al. (2001) Insecticidal and vertebrate toxicity associated with ethnobotanicals used as post-harvest protectants in Ghana Food and Chemical Toxicology 39 (3): 287-291.

BELMAIN, S.R., SIMMONDS, M.S.J. & BLANEY, W.M. (2000) Behavioural responses of adult deathwatch beetles, Xestobium rufovillosum de Geer (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), to light and dark. Journal of Insect Behaviour. 13,15-26.

BIRKINSHAW, L.A., AND SMITH, R.H. (2000). Function of aggregation pheromone in the larger grain borer Prostephanus truncatus: Variation in response to individuals as evidence for a role in sexual selection. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 26, 1325-1339.

BRICE, J.R. AND GOLOB, P. (2000) Fumigation with phosphine and carbon dioxide in metal grain tanks for on-farm use in Swaziland. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 76, 17-26.

LIKHAYO, P.W. AND HODGES, R.J. (2000) Field monitoring Sitophilus zeamais and Sitophilus oryzae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) using refuge and flight traps baited with synthetic pheromone and cracked wheat. Journal of Stored Products Research 36, 341-353.

BELMAIN, S.R., GOLOB, P., ANDAN, H.F. & COBBINAH (1999) Ethnobotanicals - Future prospects as post-harvest insecticides. Agro Food Industry Hi-tech. 10, 34-36 .

AGONA, J.A., NAHDY, S.M., GIGA, D.P. AND REES, D. (1999) A visual scale of loss assessment for dried sweet potato chips due to Araecerus fasciculatus Degeer (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) infestation on-farm. Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 4, 1-5

BELMAIN, S.R., SIMMONDS, M.S.J. & BLANEY, W.M. (1999) Deathwatch beetle, Xestobium Belmain, S.R., Simmonds, M.S.J. & Blaney, W.M. (2000) Behavioural responses of adult deathwatch beetles, Xestobium rufovillosum de Geer (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), to light and dark. Journal of Insect Behaviour. 13,15-26.

BOXALL, R. GOLOB, P. AND TAYLOR R. Pest management in farm granaries. Chatham, UK; Natural Resources Institute. 57pp.

COBBINAH, J.R., MOSS, C., GOLOB, P. AND BELMAIN, S.R. (1999) Conducting Ethnobotanical Surveys: an example from Ghana on plants used for the protection of stored cereals and pulses. NRI Bulletin # 77. Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute. ISBN 0859545024

HAINES, C.P. (1999) IPM for food storage in developing countries: 20th century aspirations for the 21st century. Crop Protection 19, 825-830.

HEAD, S. W., SWETMAN, A. A., NAGLER, M. J. (1999). Studies on deterioration and aflatoxin contamination in copra during storage. Oleagineux Corps gras Lipides (OCL) 6 (4) pp349-359.

HODGES R.J. (1999) Decision making tools for more cost-effective pest management in milled rice bag-stores. In: Decision Tools for Sustainable Development. Grant I.F. and Sear C. (eds) Chatham, UK: Natural Resources Institute.

KAKUL, T.K., LAUP, S., STATHERS, T., BEUDOIN-OLLIVIER, L., MORIN, J.P., ROCHAT, D. (1999). Trapping and disruption of the mating activity of Scapanes australis using live male as bait in Papua New Guinea. CORD, XV(2): 131-145.

AGONA, J.A., SILIM NAHDY, M., GIGIA, D.P. AND REES, D. (1998) The effect of salting sweetpotato chips prior to drying on infestation by Araecerus fasciculatus Degeer (Coleoptera: Anthribidae) Tropical Agriculture. (Trinidad) 75, 84-88.

FADAMIRO H.Y., GUDRUPS I. AND HODGES R.J. (1998) Upwind flight of Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) is mediated by aggregation pheromone but not food volatiles. Journal of Stored Products Research 34,151-158.

FARRELL, G, S A SIMONS AND A M JULIAN (1998) An agro-ecological approach to the management of a smut disease caused by Ustilago kamerunensis on Napier grass, Pennisetum purpureum, in Kenya. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of Plant Pathology, 9-16 August 1998, Edinburgh, UK.

HAINES, C.P. (1998) Eat no weevil - pest management in tropical food stores. Inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Greenwich, 14 January 1998. Inaugural Lecture Series, Greenwich University Press, ISBN 1 86166 069 3. ii + 36 pp.

HODGES R.J. & DOBSON C. (1998) Laboratory studies on the behavioural interactions of Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) with conspecifics, synthetic pheromone and the predator Teretriosoma nigrescens (Lewes) (Coleoptera: Histeridae). Journal of Stored Products Research 34, 297-305.

HODGES R.J., HALL D.R., MBUGUA J.N. & LIKAYHO P.W. (1998) The responses of Prostephanus truncatus (Coleoptera:Bostrichidae) and Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera:Curculionidae) to pheromone and synthetic maize volatiles as lure in crevice and flight traps. Bulletin of Entomological Research 88, 131-139.

MORGAN, C., SHERINGTON, J., GUDRUPS, I & BOWDEN, N.S. (1998) The assessment of potential attractants to beetle pests: improvements to laboratory pitfall bioassay methods. Journal of Stored Products Research 34, 59-74.

PARR, M. J., B. M. D. TRAN, M. S. J. SIMMONDS, G. C. KITE, AND P. F. CREDLAND, (1998). Influence of some fatty acids on oviposition by the bruchid beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Journal of Chemical Ecology 24: 1577-1594.

PARR, M.J, B.M.D. TRAN, M.S.J. SIMMONDS AND P.F. CREDLAND, (1998). Duration of behaviour patterns during oviposition by the bruchid beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Physiological Entomology 23, 150-157.

WALKER, D.J. (1998). Potential for improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of food aid grain delivery. pp. 404-407 in: "A World without Famine? New Approaches to Aid and Development", O'Neill, H. and Toye, J. (editors). Macmillan Press Ltd, London. ISBN 0-333-68246-7

DALES, M.J. AND GOLOB, P. (1997) The protection of maize against Prostephanus truncatus (Horn), using insecticide sprays in Tanzania. Int. J. Pest Management 43, 39-43

GOLOB, P. (1997) Current status and future perspectives for inert dusts for the control of stored product insects. J.Stored Products Research 33, 69-79.

MARTIN, P.J., TOPPER, C.P., BASHIRU, R.A., BOMA, F., DE WAAL, D., HARRIES, H., KASUGA, L., KATINILA, N., KIKOKA, L.P., LAMBOLL, R.,

MADDISON, A., MAJULE, A.E., MASAWE, P.A., MILLANZI, K.J., NATHANIELS, N.Q., SHOMARI, S.H., SIJAONA, M.E., & STATHERS, T.E. 1997. Cashew Nut Production in Tanzania: Constraints and Progress through Integrated Crop Management. Crop Protection, 16, 5-14.

TAYLOR R (1997) Methyl bromide- phaseout brought forward. Pesticide Outlook, 8, 6-8.

TAYLOR R (1997) The future of post-harvest fumigants. Post-harvest News and Information. 8, 26-31.

COMPTON, J.A.F., FLOYD, S., ACQUAYE, K. AND BOXALL R. (1996) Comparison of three types of pheromone-baited flight trap for the Larger Grain Borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn). Insect Sci. Applic. 17, 205-211.

FARRELL, G, A H GREATHEAD, M G HILL AND G N KIBATA [eds] (1996) Management of Farm Storage Pests in East and Central Africa. International Institute of Biological Control, Ascot, UK. 255pp.

FARRELL, G, M G HILL, F L O NANG'AYO AND A STABRAWA [1996] A review of investigations to improve pest management of stored maize in small-holder farms in Kenya. Integrated Pest Management Reviews 1, 251-263.

GILES P H, M G HILL, F L O NANG'AYO, G FARRELL AND G N KIBATA (1996) Release and establishment of the predator Teretriosoma nigrescens Lewis for the biological control of Prostephanus truncatus [Horn] in Kenya. African Crop Science Journal 4,325-337.

HODGES R.J. AND SURENDRO (1996) Detection of controlled atmosphere changes in CO2-flushed sealed enclosures for pest and quality management of bagged milled rice. Journal of Stored Products Research, 32, 97-104.

HODGES R.J., ROBINSON R. AND HALL D.R. (1996) Quinone contamination of dehusked rice by Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). Journal of Stored Products Research, 32 (1), 31-37.

HODGES, R J, G FARRELL AND P GOLOB (1996) Review of the larger grain borer outbreak in East Africa - rate of spread and pest status. In: G Farrell, A H Greathead, M G Hill and G N Kibata [eds] Management of Farm Storage Pests in East and Central Africa. International Institute of Biological Control, Ascot, UK. 255pp.

OUEDRAOGO, P.A, S. SANON, J.P. MONGE, B.M.D. TRAN, J. HUIGNARD AND P.F. CREDLAND, (1996).Influence of temperature and humidity on populations of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) and its parasitoid Dinarmus basalis (Rond) (Pteromalidae) in two climatic zones of Burkina Faso. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 86, 695-702.

PARR, M.J., B.M.D. TRAN, M.S.J. SIMMONDS AND P.F. CREDLAND, (1996). Oviposition behaviour of the cowpea seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Physiological Entomology 21, 107-117.

SANTOSO T., SUNJAYA, DHARMAPUTRA O.S., HALID H. AND HODGES R.J. (1996) Pest management of psocids in milled rice stores in the humid tropics. International Journal of Pest Management, 42, 189-197.

SMITH J.L., CORK A., HALL D.R. AND HODGES R.J. (1996) Investigation of the effect of females and their residues on production of aggregation pheromone by male larger grain borer beetles, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae). Journal of Stored Products Research, 32, 171-181.

TAYLOR R (1996) Commodity fumigation - beyond the year 2000. Pesticide Outlook, 7, 31-34.

TAYLOR R. (1996) Phytosanitary procedures to be adopted for maize and other food-aid shipments to reduce the risks of insect infestation and damage. FAO booklet. FAO, Rome, Italy. 20 pp

TAYLOR R. (1996) Using phosphine as an effective commodity fumigant. Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, UK., Booklet no. PES2. 14 pages.

 

WALKER, D.J. (1996). Improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of food aid grain delivery. Disasters, 20, 133-143