Miller Magazine Issue: 112 April 2019

81 COVER STORY APRIL 2019 look at the structure of the wheat, you see the universe there. It also has remarkable similarities with protista like paramecium. Although having a robust and protected nature, the grain may face many risks. Grain might still be a breathing and living organism when you harvest it and fill into silos. Each kernel has at least 10% water and it is called humidity percentage of the grain. When food and water come together, new living are- as easily occur for pests like insects, molds and fungis. When they reproduce, temperature of grain bulk rises. As dust and other foreign materials increase within grains in the silo, colonies between non-ventilated ker- nels find more suitable living conditions which in turn increase spoilage and burning rates. We can explain this phenomenon via this example: You can spot bacteria and moss on standing water like swamps. But this phenome- non does not occur on flowing water easily. That’s to say, we have to clean the grain by combing out foreign materials and dust from the grain before pouring it inside silos. We have to ensure proper ventila- ting and monitor the temperature of the grain. Of course, there are more measu- res to take in order to store the grain in a safe way. In order to protect the grain, it should be free from foreign materials but the silo itself should also be clean. Sanitation in the silo is a crucial factor. Whenever a product is emptied, the silo should be cleaned in detail and attention should be payed to leave nothing from the previous product before accepting new product. Proper ventilating is another solution to mitigate risks. Temperature tracking systems enable to monitor temperature increases and fans pump air into the silo to decrease the heat and prevent bur- ning. Ventilating with fans is a traditional way of ventilating and it also gives harm to the grain. It decreases the humidity to prevent occurring of suitable conditions for pests but it also dries the grain and causes kernels to have lesser weights. On the other hand, pumping air from the immedia- te environment can only be a solution for dry and cold climates. But in Mediterranean or Black Sea regions the weather is either too hot or relative humidity rates are significantly higher. As a result, this method would not be the best solution. Regardless of climate conditions, grain storage risks are there for all facilities. Scant storage con- ditions may cause spoilage of grains in a Mediterranean city like Mersin, as well as Bursa or Tekirdag in Marmara region or Konya, the bread basket of Turkey. When storage process for the grain starts, the focus should be on the silos and they should be monitored by well-trained personnel since finance source of millions of Turkish liras of a company are in these silos. Fumigation is another important measure to take. Killing insects with liquid or tablet-type chemicals is a necessity to prevent spoilage or infestation. Those che- micals are very dangerous for human health so nobody should come close to silos immediately after fumigation process. But they quickly go into the air and no deposit remains in the silo.