Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MACP), with a mandate to strengthen its implementation arm, the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) in the state of Maharashtra, took the initiative to ensure that its objectives of increasing productivity, profitability and market access of farming community is being effectively implemented by ATMA.

As part of its efforts to help raise the local agricultural commodity, the MACP organized a day-long conference on post harvest technologies and handed out GrainPro SuperGrainbags (SGBs), which is seen as an immediate storage solution.

416 SGBs with a capacity of 50 kilos each were handed out to smallholder farmers who took part in demonstrations in the region to store paddy and other grain yields. High yielding rice seed varieties and nutrients were also handed out as part of the program.

Hanumant Kisan Ghadage and his wife Maya, progressive farmers from Maushi village in Patan Taluka, took 10 bags for storage of paddy and other grains. Before using the SGBs, they reported that they lose up to 20% of their yields due to pests and rodents that eat and contaminate their grains.

After attending the Ultra Hermetic training provided by Pest Control of India (PCI) and GrainPro, he believes that storing his surplus produce in the SGBs will safely preserve the quality and reduce potential losses.

For more about GrainPro, please visit our official website at www.grainpro.com, or check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Please use the hashtag #storingthefuture to discuss Ultra Hermetic™ solutions in social media.

A recently concluded trial in Indonesia comparing  GrainPro® Gas-Hermetic Fumigation (G-HF) Cocoon™ to cold storage and ordinary warehouse storage to preserve peanuts came back in March with positive results. The client, a highly-regarded name in the peanut processing industry, concluded that the Cocoons performed extremely well in preserving the freshness of peanuts.

According to their report, the cold store and the Cocoon performed similarly in controlling aflatoxin levels, moisture content percentage, and oxidation values even after seven months. Visually, the peanuts stored in the Cocoon did not show any signs of discoloration. The most important consideration during the trial was to see how the Cocoon would deal with infestation. Based on the findings, the Cocoon eliminated both insect adults and eggs due to the rapid drop in oxygen levels in the first 220 days of installation.

The impressive results and the economic benefits of using Cocoons convinced the company executives to use modified atmosphere technology to complement their existing cold storage facilities. After a visit by Alnor Limbo, GrainPro Customer Support Engineer, the company is looking to install five more 100 tonne G-HF Cocoons at their facility while using mechanized loaders.

The GrainPro G-HF Cocoon is an Ultra Hermetic™ storage solution for large quantities of bagged commodities. With sizes ranging from 5MT to 1050MT, the Cocoon can control insect and fungal contamination through superior gas and water barriers that prevent the exchange of air and moisture during storage. With a gas flushing mechanism, it can be easily filled with carbon dioxide to speed up the process of  insect elimination.

There have been several global inquiries in the viability of modified atmosphere in Cocoons as a storage and pest-control solution for peanuts. This latest experience in Indonesia clearly shows that there are economic benefits in its use as an organic storage. Tom de Bruin, CEO of GrainPro Philippines adds, "by cutting out the need for refrigeration, the company will reduce its carbon footprint as well and eventually will market a better product."

 In 2010, Nana Yaw Obeng immediately saw the potential of hermetic technology to safely store grains and seeds. His vision is paving the way to safer postharvest storage and organic preservation, not only in Ghana, but throughout the continent.

A Postharvest Technology graduate of the Natural Resource Institute in the United Kingdom, Nana returned to Ghana upon completion of his degree and worked for the government. He started Agrimat, Ltd., as a trader of agricultural inputs and machineries. It is through his business that he found out about the GrainPro® SuperGrainbag®, a hermetic liner bag with superior air and water barriers to stop infestation and inhibit fungal growth without using chemicals. 

Harvest season is a busy time for the Agrimat team when farmers flock to buy these miraculous storage bags. Each farmer buys up to 10 to 15 bags at 8 Cedis, or less than US$2 per bag. Ivy Oduro Donkyi holds Agrimat’s wholesale warehouse, where GrainPro bags are sold to retailers from all over the countryside. Ivy is on her 14th year with Agrimat and she confirms, “our clients are happy with the performance of the SuperGrainbag and they keep coming back.” At the store, we find Dora Bempong who’s been an employee for 20 years with Sophia Turkson, another 14-year employee. Dora says, “I also use the SGB at my house to store rice and since I began using it, I’ve never had any infestation problems.”

The liner bag isn’t the only hermetic solution Agrimat is offering. Tom de Bruin, who visited Agrimat last month, explains that, "as the oldest and most senior partner of GrainPro in Africa, Agrimat also sells Cocoons™, which can hermetically store up to 1050 metric tons." They are piloting a new government initiative to set up grain warehousing facilities that will help smallholder farmers safely store their crops without the use of chemicals. This puts them and hermetic storage at the forefront of food loss reduction. 

The use of Cocoons are spreading throughout Indonesia, the Philippines, and the rest of the ASEAN region. Check out these pictures from Alnor Limbo, GP Customer Support Engineer, which shows installations of Cocoons in the region.

According to Limbo, "Cocoons are non-chemical storage solutions that are designed to effectively control insect infestation on dry agricultural commodities." With the reliance of most food producers in chemical fumigants, Cocoons offer a more sustainable and cleaner solution to storing a wide range of grains and seeds.

The GrainPro Cocoon employs the principles of Ultra Hermetic storage, modified atmospheres and organic pest control. The combination is a gas- and watertight container that prevents the exchange of air and moisture. This results in the complete elimination of insects (in all life stages) embedded with the stored crops, the inhibition of aflatoxin-producing moulds, and the preservation of the crops for longer than its regular shelf life without any chemical residues.

Hermetic storage solutions, such as the Cocoon, is leading a global revolution in how food is preserved. Tighter international laws and trade agreements are calling for the reduction and complete ban of several chemical fumigants and pest-control systems. This makes the use of organic storage and pest-control systems very appealing for food producers and traders.

Nairobi, Kenya – Some of the brightest minds in food security are coming together on 14-15 June 2016 to participate at the first Africa Strategic Grain Reserve Conference to be held in Nairobi at the Intercontinental Hotel. The event aims to break the cycle of hunger and poverty in developing nations by reinforcing the role of strategic grain reserves through innovative and affordable safe storage systems and solutions.

The 2016 first Africa Strategic Grain Reserve Conference is an opportunity to discuss large-scale storage and national grain reserves from the perspective of users, experts, and policy makers in the field, and introduce innovative storage strategies and solutions to strengthen Africa’s food security and food safety. The prevalence and growth of aflatoxin in stored grain continues to be a leading food safety issue on the continent.

Conference Sponsors include the Africa Union’s Partnership for Aflatoxin Control (PACA), Abt Associates, the Schooner Africa Fund, AGCO/GSI and GrainPro.

Partners include the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Farm Concern International, Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS), and the World Food Preservation Center.

For more information, contact Jordan Dey (Jordandey@grainpro.com) or conference organizer Ludovica Bellingeri (lbellingeri@gmail.com)

(Victor Dela Casa)

A press release that I made for the Food and Agriculture Organization.