How to Keep Weevils and Other Pests at Bay with Fumigation Monitors
How to Keep Weevils and Other Pests at Bay with Fumigation Monitors
Strategic grain protection is essential to protect grain quality, strengthen operations and maximise profits by reducing the cost of grain damage and shrinkage. The primary cause of grain degradation is insect infestation. It is estimated that up to one-third of the world grain crop is lost each year during storage, much of this is due to insect attack. A few reasons why maintaining quality grain is important includes:
Quality Export- Driven by demand from overseas customers for insect-free grain, exporting is regulated by the Australian Department of Agriculture who has imposed a zero-tolerance of insects in export grain.
Economic viability - Even light infestations ofinsects can drastically reduce the germination of grains. Grain can also lose a lot of weight with high infestation which increases the risk of being rejected by the buyer.
What is a good seal in a grain silo?
Fumigation gases in sealed silos is the most effective and popular method in controlling insects in farm-stored grain as it is effective, relatively inexpensive, and easy to use. Sealed silos help in keeping the fumigant gas in, the insects out as well as ensuring an effective fumigation process.
When buying a new grain silo, a factory-sealed model is a good investment in grain protection. To ensure the silo is working properly, the hatches must be sealed and the pressure valve filled with oil to the correct level. It is recommended to check this annually. The Australian government published standard AS2628 for sealed silos in 2010 to create a benchmark for sealing grain silos and to boost effective pest control.
According to this standard, a grain silo is “sealed” when an applied pressure on the inside of the structure depletes by 50% in no less than 3 mins (in older silos) to 5 minutes (in new silos)
Why is it important to have a good seal?
Fumigating in unsealed silos leads to fumigation failure and the emergence of insect resistance to the fumigant.If grains are stored in an unsealed silo or a warehouse, there will inevitably be leaks which causes the fumigation gas to escape. Low fumigation concentration fails to kill the more resilient insect pests and an incomplete kill can cause insects to be resistant to phosphine (PH3) gas in the future.
A sealed silo can keep the fumigant long enough to be efficient and at sufficient concentration to kill insects at all stages of life. It is also easier to maintain grain quality and control insects without building PH3 resistance.
Kansas State University conducted a study to evaluate the feasibility of utilising sealed silos to ensure the long-term efficacy of PH3 fumigation. The findings from this study showed that:
If the silo has fewer holes gas tightness is easier to achieve
During fumigation, insects travel to different areas of the silo. For the fumigation to effectively work the gas concentration should be sufficiently high in all areas of the silo.
Using gas monitoring lines inside the silos the researchers noticed even in sealed silos the gas levels dropped over time.
There is a significant R&D gap to effectively “monitor grain” especially in large flat bottom silos. Fumigation gas monitors is an innovative technology created to correct the quantity and concentration of the fumigant gas, it ensures even distribution of the gas and monitors the consistent concentration of gas in sealed silos.
The AirMetER-FX Multi-Point Fumigation Monitor has been specifically designed for continuous multi-point fumigation monitoring of fumigant gas. It seamlessly integrates with Air-Met Scientific’s web-based portal for easy access to monitoring logs, customising SMS alerts for when there has been a drop in phosphine concentration and customisable email alerts. With the ER-FX, you can automate monitoring reports scheduled to be sent to regulatory authorities to achieve compliance. It eliminates the need for manual handling and is more cost-effective.
If you are looking for a fumigation gas monitoring solution, please contact us to have a chat with one of our knowledgeable consultants.
Resources
Grains Research and Development Corporation. 2007. Sealed silos 'the only way to go'. [online] Available at: <https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/groundcover/ground-cover-supplements/ground-cover-issue-57-grain-storage-supplement/sealed-silos-the-only-way-to-go> [Accessed 30 March 2021].
Philip Burrill (DAF Qld), G., 2021. Grain storage – updates for fumigation in large silos and grain protectants. [online] Grains Research and Development Corporation. Available at: <https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/grdc-update-papers/tab-content/grdc-update-papers/2018/12/grain-storage-updates-for-fumigation-in-large-silos-and-grain-protectants> [Accessed 30 March 2021].
Agric.wa.gov.au. 2019. Insect pests of stored grain | Agriculture and Food. [online] Available at: <https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/pest-insects/insect-pests-stored-grain> [Accessed 30 March 2021].
Cook, S. and Maier, D., 2016. Grain Operations: Fumigating stored grain in sealed silos. [online] World-grain.com. Available at: <https://www.world-grain.com/articles/10251-grain-operations-fumigating-stored-grain-in-sealed-silos> [Accessed 30 March 2021].
