Organisation:The
Central Research Institute for Field Crops, P.O.Box. 226, Ulus, Ankara,Turkey
Author: Taner Akar, Muzaffer Avci and Fazil Dusunceli
Edited by AGST/FAO: Danilo Mejía, PhD, FAO (Technical), Emanuela
Parrucci (HTML transfer)
CHAPTER XXXI - Barley: Post-Harvest Operations
The main costs of the modern storage investment are construction, maintanence and energy. Although majority of barley grains are stored in modern structures in developed countries, construction and maintenance of these infrastructures can not be affordable in developing 7countries. However, introduction of such facilities was realized in some developing countries by using international funds. Result of these attempts has summarized by Navarro (1997): ‘a major effort over recent decades has been devoted to improving storage conditions of cereal and pulse crops, reducing losses in tropical countries. Past attempts at introducing "state-of-the-art" storage structures into several developing countries for this purpose have met with failure and are witnessed by many such "white-elephants" standing empty and abandoned'.
In order to reduce cost of storage construction and increase adoption of new storage systems, socio-economic conditions of developing countries should be considered more. New technology has to meet the following very important requirements: 1)Design must be similar to those of traditional storage structures (cylindrical container, raised above ground on a platform, with an upper loading port and a lower spout to remove the grain; 2) Reduction in cost of manufacture by incorporation of certain elements of the structure that are usually freely obtainable locally (raised platform, straw roof); 3) Achievement of a minimal and affordable price with an anticipated life-time of several years. 4) Application of a method of grain preservation that is environmentally sound, user friendly, and does not require application of chemical pesticides; 5)Acceptability of the structure by farming societies. (Navarro, 1998).
If these conditions are taken in to considerations, new storage systems can be accepted by small scale farmers living trough the developing world. Navarro et al.(1997) have proved that more appropriate storage systems have also been widely introduced, and have enabled the successful transfer and updating of modern conservation and control technologies with consequent reduction in storage losses. Reduction of storage losses at the small-scale and subsistence farmer levels has proved to be far more difficult than in the commercial or public sectors. This is because the available storage conservation technologies are costly and not applicable to most of the traditional storage methods unless radical changes are made. Therefore new solutions must be found, appropriate to the local conditions, and acceptable to the societies into which they are to be introduced.
A good example illustrates the benefits of introduction of this approach in to developing countries. Navarro et al. (1994) reported that net benefits from PVC hermetic units for rice and maize per tons was 100$ and 80$, respectively.
Losses of small grains after harvest are at least 5-10% especially for small scale farmers under rural areas in developing countries, but the magnitude of the losses sometimes may reach up to 100 % depending on climate and storage conditions (Navarro et al., 1998). However, introduction of hermetic storage systems, which are easily applicable, cost effective and eco-friendly technology especially for small scale farmers, into rural areas dramatically decreases grain losses down to 0.15% (Navarro et al., 1998).
Developing countries urgently need international collaboration in order to finance and execute research and development projects and transfer/introduce the existing and prospective technologies to their societies especially in rural areas. Considering their problems and priorities, the following procedures are recommended to be put into practice by Navarro (1997) a) development of appropriate storage technologies for developing countries; b) development of non-chemical control methods; c) development of novel pesticides based on biotechnological approaches; d) further development of IPM strategies and e) evaluation and development of new fumigants and other alternatives. In order to achieve all this, international collaboration must be established and sufficient resources should be allocated for research and technology transfer work in this area.