On-farm comparative performance of hermetic bags in dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris (L.) storage

Abstract

Post-harvest losses remain one of the primary issue in agriculture especially amongst smallholder farmers who do not have enough knowledge of the innovations available at their disposal. Effectiveness of six different storage technologies on stored beans was evaluated during the 2019/20 storage season in Domboshava, Goromonzi District. Beans were stored for 32 weeks and grain sampling was at 8-week intervals. Grain samples were analysed in the laboratory for: insect numbers and species, insect damage, weight loss, moisture content, chaff content and seed viability after storing in the different technologies.. Data were subjected to Analysis of Variance and Fisher’s test at 5% probability was used to separate significantly different means. Farmers’ assessments were also analysed in the study with farmers perceptions on the performance of the bags under grain damage and grain weight loss. Price analysis was also considered in the study with the comparison of the baseline and the termination prices being analysed across the 4 treatments. The overall results indicated an increase in moisture content with storage length amongst all the treatment. Untreated treatment had the highest moisture content rise of around 1.4% whereas Grain Pro Super Bag had the lowest moisture content fluctuation of around 1% amongst the other treatments. Grain damage, weight loss and insect populations were lowest in Shumba plus, AgroZ Plus bags and PICS bags. Germination was also assessed for all the treatments at 2, 5 and 7 days. At 7 days, untreated, PICS bags, and Agro Z Plus had 100% germination whilst Shumba Plus had the lowest germination of 95%. Most respondents indicated that Shumba Plus was very good in controlling insect infestation, seed rot, presence of chaff as well insect damage in comparison to the untreated treatment which was perceived poor in all these tests. Beans stored in the Shumba Plus treatment had the highest termination price of $40, whereas AgroZ Plus, AgroZ, PICS bags had termination prices of $35, and $30 respectively. Grain pro Super grain bag and untreated had the lower termination prices than their baseline recording $12 and $10 from $15 respectively. Based on both the efficacy experiment and farmer assessments, the hermetic technologies Shumba Plus and AgroZ Plus and are recommended for on-farm smallholder use to reduce storage losses and help fight hunger at household level. Keywords: hermetic, storage, grain loss, moisture content, insect pests.