INVESTIGATION ON STACKBURN IN NATIONAL STOCKS OF STORED MAIZE IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH INCREASED LEVELS OF INSECT INFESTATION AND THE INTRODUCTION OF WOVEN POLYPROPYLENE SACKS

Objective

JUTE SACKS ARE BEING REPLACED BY SACKS MADE FROM WOVEN POLYPROPYLENE TAPE FOR STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD GRAINS. REASONS INCLUDE SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE AND LOWER STORAGE COSTS. POLYPROPYLENE BAGS ARE ALSO MORE RESISTANT TO MOISTURE MOVEMENT AND COMMODITIES STORED IN THEM MAY BE LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO MOULD GROWTH. HOWEVER, THEIR INTRODUCTION HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH NEW PROBLEMS (ALTHOUGH A DIRECT CAUSE AND EFFECT HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN). UNUSUAL DISCOLOURATION OF THE PERICARP AND EMBRYOS OF WHITE AND YELLOW MAIZE, KNOWN LOCALLY AS STACKBURN, HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED IN BOTH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR BAGSTACKS IN ANGOLA, GHANA, MALAWI AND ZIMBABWE. STACKBURN WAS ESTIMATED TO HAVE CAUSED LOSSES OF AT LEAST ECU 0.75 MILLION FOR ONE AFRICAN ORGANISATION DURING 1990-91.
THIS PROJECT WILL IDENTIFY THE CAUSES OF STACKBURN; DETERMINE THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP, IF ANY, BETWEEN STACKBURN AND THE INTRODUCTION OF GRAIN BAGS MADE FROM WOVEN POLYPROPYLENE TAPE; AND EXAMINE POTENTIALLY EFFECTIVE METHODS OF MINIMISING THE INCIDENCE OF STACKBURN. EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND APPROPRIATE MAIZE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES WILL BE IDENTIFIED AND COMMUNICATED TO MANAGERS OF NATIONAL FOOD STOCKS THROUGH PUBLICATIONS, SEMINARS AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES.
THE WORK REPRESENTS A MAJOR INNOVATION BECAUSE IT FEATURES MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD AND LABORATORY BASED SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS LEADING TO DETERIORATION OF GRAIN IN THE TROPICS. IT WILL BE THE FIRST IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION INTO TECHNICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF SUBSTITUTING JUTE WITH POLYPORPYLENE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SACKS FOR STORING GRAIN. THE PROJECT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN BY RESEARCH INSTITU TIONS IN GHANA, ZIMBABWE, PORTUGAL AND THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Fields of science

• agricultural sciences › agriculture, forestry, and fisheries › agriculture › grains and oilseeds
• natural sciences › biological sciences › biological behavioural sciences › ethology › biological interactions
• medical and health sciences › clinical medicine › embryology

Programme(s)

• FP3-STD 3 - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of the life sciences and technologies for developing countries, 1990-1994

Topic(s)

Data not available

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Natural Resources Institute

Address

Central Avenue Chatham Maritime
ME4 4TB Chatham
United Kingdom

Links

Participants (3)

Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical

Portugal

Address

9,travessa Conde Da Ribeira
1300 Lisboa

University of Ghana

Ghana

Address

Legon

University of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe

Address

167,mount Pleasant 167
Harare