A comparative study of pest attack on basmati rice under different stored conditions and packaging

The practice of short duration storage of rice in sacks is practiced all over India; storage of basmati rice is made in woven sacks of jute, cotton and other indigenous plant fibres, in recent few decades polypropylene bags have taken over woven sacks in urban India. In the traditional storage techniques the rice becomes more vulnerable to insect attacks and spoilage, chemical methods have proven to be efficient but the residual toxins have been of great concern. A comparative study was conducted to find the vulnerability and the effects of pest on basmati rice stored in woven jute bag containers, bamboo straw container, polypropylene and silo (plastic). The results of the investigation showed that the basmati rice stored in woven bags were more vulnerable to pest infestation, the rice stored at lower moisture contents below 8 percent was observed to have lower plague of pest and insects. The varieties of basmati rice used for the study were Pusa 1121, Basmati 385, Muradabadi 6465, 386 Haryana and Basmati 198. The effect of pest infestation and moisture variation within the grains in the samples taken for the trails was also attributed to the packaging materials and adulteration. The percent of pest attack in different layers of each package was found and the maximum pest infestation was found in woven jute bags. Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) and Oryzaephilus Mercator where the major pests found in basmati rice varieties after 48 weeks of storage in various storage containers.