Effective and economic storage of pigeonpea seed in triple layer plastic bags

Vales, M I and Ranga Rao, G V and Sudini, H and Patil, S B and Murdock, L L (2014) Effective and economic storage of pigeonpea seed in triple layer plastic bags. Journal of Stored Products Research. pp. 1-40. ISSN 0022-474X

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Abstract

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] seed stored in triple layer Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) bags for eight months retained germination and seed integrity significantly better than seed stored in traditional gunny bags. PICS bags prevented major damage caused by bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus F.), while grain stored in gunny bags suffered severe losses. The aflatoxin levels in stored seed were low and not significantly different between the two storage systems. The levels of O2 in PICS bags artificially infested with C. maculatus dropped rapidly during the first month of storage while the levels of CO2 increased. Even in absence of bruchids (noninfested seed) PICS bags preserved seed germination for extended periods of time better than gunny bags; possibly due to the higher and more stable relative humidity inside the PICS bags. Higher seed germination would result in improved plant stands in the field and subsequent higher yields and increased productivity. Thus, PICS bags have shown potential to positively impact the economy of pigeonpea farmers in the semi-arid tropics.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	RP-Grain Legumes
CRP:	CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Bruchids; Callosobruchus maculatus F.; Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.; aflatoxins; seed viability; seed vigor
Subjects:	Mandate crops > Pigeonpea
Depositing User:	Mr Sanat Kumar Behera
Date Deposited:	14 Feb 2014 08:51
Last Modified:	22 Jul 2015 05:03
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/7522
Official URL:
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	We thank Mr. Vijay Kumar and Dr. Sameer Kumar for making the necessary arrangements to obtain pigeonpea seed from a local farmer (Medak district, Andhra Pradesh, India). Technical assistance from staff, students, and field workers at ICRISAT was greatly appreciated. Special thanks to Mr. Michael Jones for introducing PICS bags to the first author (MI Vales) in Malawi during a meeting of the Tropical Legumes project and for linking ICRISAT and the group of scientists at Purdue University working on storage using PICS.
Links:	Google Scholar Author

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