Low Cost and Environmental Friendly Indoor Storage Methods of Guarding Food against Rodents in a Store

Abstract

Rodents are serious pests in agriculture both in field and food stores putting food security and nutrition under big threat. This calls for effective control measures before they can cause economic damage. In this study, three indoor storage methods were evaluated in regard to their effectiveness in guarding food against rodents in a store; hanging baskets, metallic drum and cupboard storage methods. Hanging baskets was investigated by keeping 200 grams of maize seeds in form of small buckets hanged with a banana fibre string tied at the roof. While the use of metallic drums was investigated using sauce pan which were covered on top with another pan supported with a heavy load as metallic container, 200 grams of maize seeds were on plastic plates kept in three chambered wooden cupboard. In additional to the three methods, control treatment was in place for comparison purpose. Each method was replicated three times for the purpose of reliability. Daily monitoring was done to check for damaged seeds, contamination and weight losses. The software “R” was used to perform one-way ANOVA to find the significant differences in losses, rate of damage and contamination at 0.05 significant level. There are significant differences in loss, contamination and damages of maize seed among the different indoor storage methods (p <0.05). Highest losses incurred in cupboard and control methods of 156 grams and 144 grams respectively. While there were no losses registered for seeds stored in metallic containers and hanging baskets. Hanging baskets and metallic containers (drums) were confirmed as most effective indoor storage methods in guarding food against rodents.