Miller Magazine Issue: 112 April 2019

82 COVER STORY APRIL 2019 Another solution to prevent higher temperatures is transferring grains to an empty silo. Grain passes throu- gh conveyors and elevators, became ventilated and its temperature will decrease a few Celsius degrees. But this method consumes energy and causes wastage because of broken or harmed kernels. First three months after the harvest is a critical peri- od of time for grains. Because the grain is fresh, fragile and vulnerable to risks in this period. Weekly tempera- ture checks and comparing results are crucial in order to take above-mentioned necessary measures for the areas that have an increased temperature level of 2 centigrade degrees. To sum up, we can list the measures for safe storage of grains as follows: 1. Cleaning the grain before storage / Pre-cleaning and dust reduction systems 2. Monitoring silos and stores properly / Temperature and level tracking systems 3. Using the right ventilation system / Grain cooling and conditioning equipment 4. Competent personnel for grain storage / well-trai- ned personnel at relevant institutions 5. Close monitoring and reporting during the first three months / closely monitoring the reactions every 5 yo 7 days We use refrigerators in our homes (+5 or 6 cen- tigrade degrees) to ensure food, fresh vegetables and fruits to be consumable for a longer time. But the proper temperature for grains and pulses is 13 centigrade degree. This conditions protects the grain from pests, insects, molds, fungis and germination for a long time and grain remains as fresh as ever. Grain conditioning equipment is also a kind of ref- rigerator that protects grains from risks by keeping in-silo temperature +13 centigrade degrees regard- less of the temperature of outer environment. You can also control the rate of humidity thanks to the- se equipment. You can cool the grain with cold-dry, cold and semi-humid, cold-humid air and increase or decrease humidity rates by 1-2 percentage points. As a result, safe storage for grains is possible with a good pre-cleaning, temperature tracking and with the right cooling-conditioning equipment.