A project of Voiunteers in Asia by: Carl Lindblad and Laurel Druben Published by: VITA/Peace Corps 1815 North Lynn Street P.0, Box 12438 Arlington, VA 22209 USA Paper copies are $18.95. Available from: Volunteers in Technical Assistance 1815 North Lynn Street P.O. Box 12438 Arlington, VA 22209 USA Reproduced by permission of Volunteers in Technical Assistance and the Peace Corps, Reproduction of this microfiche document in any form is subject to the same restrictions as those of the original document, SMALL FARM GRAIN STORAGE BY CARL LINDBLAD, PEACE CORPS AND LAUREL DRUBEN, VITA ACTION/PEACE CORPS PROGRAM & TRAINING JOURNA b MANUAL SkRIES NUMBER , VOLUNTEERS IN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE VITA PUBLICATIONS MANUAL SERIES NUMBER 35E LE OF C INTRODUCTORY SECTION 1: WHAT THIS MANUAL WILL TALK ABOUT: THE GRAIN STORAGE PROBLEM SECTION 2: GRAIN IS A LIVING THING SECTION 3: GRAIN, MOISTURE? AND AIR SECTION 4: PREPARING GRAIN FOR STORAGE SECTION 5: GRAIN DRYER MODELS SECTION 6: ENEMIES OF STORED GRAIN PART 1: INSECTS PART 2: RODENTS SECTION 7: STORAGE METHODS APPENDICES A - Presentation of Information B - Moisture Meters C- Insecticide Use D - Waterproofing E - The Volunteer Role F - Bibliography CONVERSION TABLES INTRODUCTORY The Purpose of the Manual; The People Who Prepared This Manual; How To Use This Manual; Reply Form SECTION 1: WHAT THIS MANUAL WILL TALK ABOUT: THE GRAIN STORAGE PROBLEM Introduction; Good Grain Storage Is Important to Farmers; Grafn Is a Living Thing; What Happens to Grain in Storage; Good Grain Storage Depends Upon Better Drying and Better Storing; "Good Grain Storage Helps Farmers"; Illustrations SECTION 2: GRAIN IS A LIVING THING Characteristks of Grain and How They Affect Storage; "Grain Is a Living Thing" SECTION 3: GRAIN, MOISTURE, AND AIR What Moisture Is; Moisture in Grain; Moisture in the Air; How Air, Moisture, and Grain Interact; Safe Moisture Levels in Grain; Movement of Moisture in Stored Grain; Where You Are Now SECTION 4: PREPARING GRAIN FOR STORAGE Introduction; Harvesting and Threshing; Cleaning; The Need for Drying; How Drying Happens; Safe Drying Temperatures; Testing Grain for Moisture Content; "Preparing Grain for Storage" SECTION 5: GRAIN DRYER MODELS Sun Drying Using Plastic Sheets; The Improved Ma%ze Drying and Storage Crib; Newer Drying Methods; A Simple Oil Barrel Dryer; Instructions for Using the Oil Barrel Dryers; The Pit Oil Barrel Dryer; Philippines Rice Dryer; Solar Dryers: Part 1: Construction; and Part 2: Operating Instructions SECTION 6: ENEMIES OF STORED GRAIN PART 1: INSECTS. What is an Insect?; Insect Life Cycle; How Insects Get Into Grain; Why Insects Infest Grain; Common Grain Pests; Information Sheets on Some Major Stored Grain Insect Pests; Control of Insects in Stored Grain; Controlling Insects Without Insecticides; Checklist; Insect Control with Insecticides; Types of Insecticides; Some Closing Notes; Insecticide Information Sheets; Recomnended Insecticides and Dosages; Applying Insecti- cides; Note to Development Workers; Checklist; Helping Someone Who Has Been Poisoned by Insecticide PART 2: RODENTS. Stored Grain Rodents; Habits and Characteristics of Stored Grain Rodents; Finding Rodents on the Farm; Controlling Rodents Without Using Poison; Controlling Rats With Poison; Rodent Poison Information Sheets; Rat Baffles; "Rodents Are Everywhere"; "Know About Rats"; With Poison"; "Fighting Rats Without Poison"; "Fighting Rats "Fighting Rats With Traps"; Rodent Control Illustra- tions SECTION 7 : STORAGE METHODS Introduction; Feedback; Storage Principles; "Finding a Good Storage Place" & Illustrations; "Cleaning and Repairing Your Storage Place" & Illustrations; Storing Grain in Basket Granaries; Instruction Sheet for Storing Grain in Baskets; Storing Grain in Sacks; Mixing Grain and Insecticides for Sack and Small-Container Storage; Treating Stacks of Bagged Grain -- Recommended Insecti- cides and Dosages; Storing Grain in Sacks: Summary; Airtight 5torage; Storing in Gourds and Baskets; Storing Grain in Underground Pits; Storing Grain in Plastic Sacks, and !'llustrations; Storing Grain in Metal Drums; Storing Grain in Metal Bins; Sheet Metal Silo; Fumigation of Small Quantities of Stored Grain: in Plastic Bags; under Plastic Sheets; and in Small Metal Containers or Silos; Storing in Earthen Structures; The Indian Pusa Bin; Improved Mudblock Silo; How to Use Your Mudblock Silo; Ferrocement for Grain Storage; An Overvlew of Grain Storage Uses for Ferrocement: Thai Ferrocement Silo (Thailo); Ferrocement-lined Underground Pits; and Other Ferrocement Grain Structures; Storing Grain in Cement/ Concrete Structures; Brick Grain Storage Silo; The 4.5 Ton Cement Stave SUo; Instructions for Use of the Cement Stave Silo; Concret Block Square Silos for Cooperative Storage APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Different Ways To Present Grain Storage Information APPENDIX B: Information on Moisture Meters APPENDIX C: Material from Guidelines for the Use of Insecticides APPENDIX D: Waterproofing Methods -- Material from Waterproofing Soil Construction APPENDIX E: Working Paper on the Volunteer Role in Grain Storage: "Problems Related to Popularizing New Farm-level Grain Storage Technology" APPENDIX F: Bibliography: Reprint of Listings Prepared by the Tropical Products Institute, London CONVERSION TABLES THE PURPOSE OF THE MANUAL This manual brings together knowledqe from two different'kind of develop- ment organizations involved in finding low-cost, appropriate solutions to problems in the Third World--the United States Peace Corps and VITA, Volun- teers in Technical Assistance. The Peace Corps has information to share about grain storage based on the practical field experience of Volunteers livinq and workinq at the qrass roots level in numerous countries. VITA contributes the technical expertise of its specialists. Too often, it seems, innovative techniques for small farms do no+ L reach the field, and field approaches too ofteirl are applied only in the area where they were developed. True, it is good to design a silo which is not too expensive for a farmer to build. It is even better to plan a silo which is cheap and keeps out insects. But of what value is the plan if only a few farmers know about it?...or if other farmers cannot adapt ft to suit their needs? It was to bring such plans and new ideas to farmers worldwide that Peace Corps and VITA prepared this manual. Small Farm Grain Storage is a how-to manual. It is designed as a working and teaching tool for development workers in their field activities. Grain storage information is basic and straightforward; it is presented in a form easily adapted to on-the-job needs. The manual brings together in one volume the basic principles of grain storage and the practical solutions currently being used and tested around the world to combat grain storaqe problems. Of course, it is impossible in a single publication to cover all the possible storage situations in the world. But farmers who understand the basic, unchanging principles of drying and storing grain can adapt ideas, suggestions, and technologies from another part of the world to their own situations. This manual is the first of a planned PC/VITA series, Future manuals wi 11 focus on such areas of concern as reforestation, fish culture,and wells construction. vi THE PEOPLE WHO PREPARED THIS MANUAL Small Farm Grain Storage is the first in a planned series of publications combining Peace Corps practical field experience with VITA technical expertise in areas in which development workers have special difficulties finding useful resource materials. Since 1961 Peace Corps Volunteers have worked at the grass roots level in countries around the world in program areas such as agriculture, public health, and education. Before beginning their two-year assignments, Volun- teers are given training in cross-cultural, technical, and language skills. This training helps them to live and work closely with the people of their host countries. It helps them, too, to approach development problems with new ideas that make use of locally available resources and are appropriate to the local cultures. Recently Peace Corps established an Information Collection & Exchange, so that these ideas developed during service in the field could be made available to the wide range of development workers who might find them useful. Materials from the field are now being collected, reviewed, and classified in the Information Collection & Exchange system. The most useful materials will be shared with the development world. The Information Collection,& Exchange provides an important source of field-based research materials for the production of how-to manuals such as Small Farm Grain Storaqe. VITA people are specialists who volunteer their free time to answer requests for technical assistance. Many VITA Volunteers have lived and worked in other countries, often as Peace Corps Volunteers. Most VITA people now work in the United States and other developed countries where they are engineers, doctors, scientists, farmers, architects, writers, artists, and so on. But they continue to work with people in other countries through VITA. VITA Volunteers have been providing technical assistance to the Third World for more than 15 years. Requests for technical assistance come to VITA from many nations. Each request is handled by a Volunteer with the right skills. For example, a question about grain storage in Latin America might be handled by a professor of agriculture, and a request for an improved planting implement would go to an agricultural engineer. These VITA Volunteers, most of whom have lived and worked in Third World countries, are familiar with the special problems of these areas and are able to give useful, and appropriate, answers. A number of VITA people worked on the Small Farm Grain Storage nianual, providing technical review and artwork. Many thanks are due to the skilled and concerned Peace Corps and VITA people, as well as to numerous others, wh13 worked to make this manual possible, vii staff Gssistance -- John Goode11 -- materials on section 4 -- Frederick Bueche technical review -- Douglas Barnes, Merle Esmay, Henry Highland, Larry Van Fossen, Harold Willson, Kenton Harris artwork -- George Clark, John Goodell, Kenneth Lloyd, Nicholas Reitlhardt, Guy Welch Thanks are also extended to the following individuals and institutions that provided invaluable assistance in the early st?,ges of work on the manual. Mary Ernsberger and Margot Aronson, Peace Corps Program and Training Journal, USA Brenda Gates, Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange, USA Tropical Stored Products Center, TPI, Great Britain Henry Barre and Floyd Herum, Agricultural Engineering Department, Ohio State University, USA ' Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, USA Agricultural Research Service, Department of Agriculture, USA Extension Project Implementation Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia F.W. Bennett, Midwest Research Institute, USA Supervised Agricultural Credit Programs, SACP, Belize Peter Giles, Nicaragua Donald Pfalser, Agricultural Cooperatives Development International, ACDI, USA Technical Assistance Bureau, US Agency for International Development, AID International Development Research Center, University of Alberta, Canada League for International Food Education, LIFE, USA Institut de Recherches Agronomiques Tropicales et des Cultures Vivrieres, France IRAT, Post-Harvest Crop Protection Project, University of Hawaii, USA Agricultural Engineering Service, FAO African Rural Storage Center, IITA, Nigeria Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Belle University, Nigeria Swaziland Rural Grain Storage Project Jim McDowell, Food Technology and Nutrition Section, UNICEF, Kenya Gordon Yadcuik, Centre Nationale de Recherches Agronomiques, CNRA, Senegal R.A. Boxall, Indian Grain Storage Institute, A.P., India Siribonse Boon-Long, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, Thailand Asian Institute of Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Merrick Lockwood, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council International Rice Research Institute, IRRI, Philippines Dante de Padua, University of Los Banos, Philippines viii HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL Development workers can use material from this manual in a number of ways: . Discussions. The manual provides clear presentations of grain storage principles from which you can take material to lead discussions with farmers and village leaders. . Demonstrations. There are suggestions for demonstrations and experiments which you might find helpful to illustrate qrain storage principles to farmers. . Leaflets. Some of the material has been prepared in the form of illustrated leaflets which can be used directly by you with a farmer. They may require little or no adaptation by you. But, if you prefer, you can use the structure of the leaflet and substitute photographs specific to your area. The material on rodent control is a good example of this kind of leaflet. . Construction Plans. Many of the construction plans have been simplified so that you will be able to work more closely with the farmer. Some of the plans are fully illustrated. You could add photographs of the work steps showing conditions in your area. It is likely that after you introduce the material, far- mers can follow the instructions themselves. The plans are written so that they would be easy to translate into local languages. The Improved Maize Drying Crib is a good example of a step-by-step, illustrated presentation. . Checklists. Some of the material most likely to be useful for small-scale farmers has been simplified and prepared in checklist or hand-out form. This material would lend itself to illustra- tions or photographs, so it can better fit into the local situation. The checklists on controlling grain storage insect pests are in this category. . Exam les. 6-9 The appendices contain examples of leaflets that have een *pared by development workers in several countries. These examples have been included to give you some idea of how the materials in this manual might be organized, illustrated, trans- lated, and presented to reach farmers. . Sources. Wherever possible, addresses are given so that you can writer more information on a subject. ix . further Information. Other appendices contain information on areas which, although important, cannot be covered fully within the scope of this manual, for example, storage pro- gram planning. These are some of the a.ilms of Small Farm Grain Storagk. You will probably find added uses. While it is not possible to make this manual specific to the situations or culture of your particular area, the information is presented so that you can do this ver.y easily by making additions or substi- tutions to the material. For your convenience, the pages in each part of the manual are numbered independently from those in the other parts. Key information is oftell included in more than one section so that all the facts needed to discuss a subject can be found easily without searching through the manual. Plans can be removed for copying and reworking to fit your needs. Dimensions are given in metric units in the text and illustrations. Con- version tables follow Appendix F. This manual will grow and chanqe as its readers and users send in addi- tional material, comments, and-ideas for new approaches to grain storaqe problems and better ways to communicate with farmers. Your own ideas and conclusions are welcome, and forms have been provided for your comments at several locations in the manual. silo or dryer building. So, please send in the results of your Let us know how you used the mat?ual and how the information could be made even more useful to you. Tell LIS how you changed a plan to fit local needs. Your experience will help us to produce manuals of growing usefulness to the world-wide development community. REPLY FORM For your convenience, a reply form has been provided here. Please send it in and let us know how the manual has helped or can be made more helpful. If the reply form is missing from your copy of the manual, just put your comments, suggestions, descriptions of problems, etc., on a piece of paper and send them to: GRAIN STORAGE 3706 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE MT. RAINIER, MD 20822 U.S.A. X PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM NOTE TO THE USER: This manual was published because Peace Corps and VITA people wish to help in a problem area of worldwide concern. In order to provide the most effective help, the authors need to know how the manual is being used and how you feel it can be made even more responsive to your needs. Please fill in the following form and return it to: GRAIN STORAGE 3706 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE MT. RAINIER, MD 20822 U.S.A. WHEN WE RECEIVE THIS FORM, WE WILL AUTOMATICALLY PLACE.YOUR NAME ON A MAILING LIST SO THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE: 1. Updates and/or additions and corrections to the manual as they become available. 2. Notice of other publications which may he of interest to you. If you have questions on the material presented in the manual, or if you run into problems implementing the suggestions offered here, please note them in the space provided. Use additional paper if you have to in order to be as specific as you can about the problem. Wherever possible, the authors will try to provide or direct you to an answer. --------o-o Date Your Name Your Company or Agency, if any Your Address - 1. HOW did you find out about the PC/VITA Grain Storage Manual? How did you get your copy? 2. Which parts of the Grain Storage Manual have you found most useful? Least useful? Why? xi 3. Did you find the Manual easy to read, too simple or complex, complete or incomplete? 4. How has this manual helped your work ? What have you done to apply the information? 5 . . Which plans have you used? Did you make changes in any of the (For example, when you were building a dryer or a silo, did you plans? substitute any building materials for the ones mentioned in the plans?) If you made changes, please describe what you did that was different. Include photos, sketches, etc., if possible or important. 6. Can you recommend additional methods or equipment which you feel should be included in a new edition of the Manual? If you do know of such methods, etc., please include the information here. 7. What were your successes using the Manual or implementing any of the plans? Problems? Please describe any successes or problems completely. 8. Do you have other recommendations for following editions of this Manual? xii