30 mrt 2005 13:30
Onderdeel:
Wageningen Universiteit
Locatie:
Aula (gebouw 362), Gen. Foulkesweg 1, Wageningen
Promotor:
prof.dr.agr. J. Müller (Farm Technology)prof.dr. P. Richards (Technology and Agrarian Development)
Rice is the staple food of Sri Lankans and it is produced in two seasons in a year. However, paddy farmers face many hardships to obtain a satisfactory yield compared to inputs. Among the problems, majority were related to marketing of their produce to obtain a fair income, since the paddy price decreases at the harvesting period.
At present, the storage loss at farm level is 4-6% and insect damage is the major factor for the loss. An urgent need for an efficient on-farm storage system was identified to preserve quality and quantity of paddy. An airtight storage system of 2.5 tons of paddy using ferrocement technology was developed and evaluated. Insect damage was limited to 0.4% by weight with a storage loss of 0.1%. Insects were controlled by depletion of O2 and increase of CO2 inside the container due to metabolic activities of micro-organism. It showed several socio-economic benefits.