Survey of rural wheat storage conditions and farmers’ knowledge about stored grain pests and their management in southern Haryana

Abstract

Studies were carried out during 2013 to assess the status of wheat grain storage conditions as well as people’s knowledge about stored grain pests and their management in the rural areas of Mahendergarh district of Haryana, India. Wheat stores of 50 farmers of each of the six selected villages were visited and farmers were interviewed with the help of an Interview Schedule prepared for this purpose to document the wheat storage practices adopted by the farmers as well as farmer’s knowledge about stored grain pests and their management. It was found that the highest percentage (70) of farmers stored wheat in metallic bins, followed by gunny bags (21.67) and open bulk storage (8.33). On an average 52.33 per cent farmers were able to differentiate T. granarium infestation from infestation by other stored grain pests. About 80 per cent farmers adopted a combination of 3-4 pest management practices such as sun drying of grain, treatment of storage structures, fumigation of grain with insecticide and mixing of dried neem leaves in the grain.