Preserving maize

The harvest of Maize—the grain that matter most in Malawi—is bad this year. The figures have seen some people harvesting less than half of what they got last season. The official figures show that the country will face a 30 percent food deficit.
The situation calls for proper action in the storage of the little grain that has been realised. There is evidence that a substantial amount of grain is damaged during storage. In a critical year like this one, every grain counts and there is need to find the most efficient means of storing the grain.
Many will agree with me that storing maize is not an easy task. Many have tried to jump from one brand of pesticides to another without much success.
I recall sharing my frustrations with an official from an agriculture chemicals organisation and after listening to the litany of brands that I have used, he raised a number of questions which helped me realise that there is more to maize preservation than just applying pesticides.
He said to achieve the best from pesticides, the first step is using new storage sacks. He argued that old sacks may have pesticides eggs which may move on to the next stage of the weevil lifecycle at a time the maize has been stored. He said if it is not possible to use new sacks, then the old ones must be soaked in hot water to ensure that weevils living in the treads at whatever stage of the lifecycle are destroyed.
Reading extension notes on the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences website, I learnt that the cleanliness should go beyond the sacks. The floor and walls should be cleaned thoroughly. The author explains: “The floor and wall surfaces both inside and outside the bin should be treated. Take special care to treat all cracks, crevices, and areas around doorways and other places where insects could hide or enter.”
The bags of maize should be placed on wooden palates to ensure that maize is safe from water and moisture.
Apart from applying the pesticides to the maize before packaging it into bags, pesticides should also be applied above the bags of maize to deal with weevils that may land on them.
The room must also be secured from rats which may want to partake in your hard-earned yield.
Having done this, you are supposed to check the maize once every three months to ensure that there is no weevil activity in it. Listen carefully if there is no sound of weevils. Alternatively, make a random check on the bags. Open the bag and pour the maize out and physically check if there are no weevils ‘playing’ with your food.
The process outlined above requires energy and dedication, but it is far much better than regretting that you have shared you harvest with weevils.
Wishing you, dear reader, a week full of activity. Remember, the devil finds work for idle hands.