Miller Magazine Issue: 112 April 2019

75 COVER STORY APRIL 2019 It is a major global challenge to meet the food demand of increasing population. Within this perspective, the reduction of post-harvest loss provides a sustainable solution to increase the access to food. The grain is a basic food for many developing countries and faces the biggest losses among all agricultural products. During storage, up to 50-60 percent of grain can be wasted. Therefore, storage of the grain is critically important. And also well managed storage can maximise grain marketing opportuni- ties and complement existing commercial bulk handling operations. Globally, a significant amount of capital has been invested in the grain storage infrastructure. Successful storage depends on a range of factors including storage and handling equipment, the capital costs and manage- ment used to maintain grain quality and control insects and mould. The most preferred storage technique is to keep the products in steel and gal- vanized silos. In recent years, convention of storage techniques for grains has been advanced with the innovations, such as aeration, refrigerated storage, modified atmospheric storage and hermetic storage systems. The modern storage with steel-silo systems enables operations such as the grain loading, unloading, transfer, and deliver to be carried out more rapidly and effectively with a single button. Research shows that correct grain storage hygiene and aeration practi- ces can supress stored grain insects and pests and maintain grain quality. A combination of good hygiene and well-managed aeration cooling du- ring grain storage offers harvest flexibility, more marketing opportunities, better control of grain quality. Maintaining grain quality during storage relies on the ability to control moisture, temperatu- re and insects. A combination of good hygie- ne and well-managed aeration cooling during grain storage offers harvest flexibility, more marketing opportunities, better control of gra- in quality. The storage techniques for grains has been advanced in recent years with the inno- vations, such as aeration, refrigerated storage, modified atmospheric storage and hermetic storage systems. New Trends in Grain Storage and Safe Storage Conditions