Naijaagronet
news :
Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has
approved a $10 million (N1.7 billion) grant to Purdue University to develop a
program that will put the crop-saving Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags into
the hands of more farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa countries to improve their food
security and income Naijaagronet news gathered.
The grant for the five-year project moves
the Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags from research and applications for only
one crop to commercialization involving multiple crops.
According to Purdue President, Mitch
Daniels, “This project further extends a Purdue program that has long addressed
a growing need for more abundant and safer food in Sub-Sahara Africa as part of
our work in helping to reduce poverty and food insecurity globally. The next
step is a crucial and practical one — developing a system so that more farmers
in Africa can use these essential crop storage bags for many crops.”
The hermetic triple bagging, a
chemical-free storage method developed by professor Larry Murdock in Purdue’s
Department of Entomology, enables farmers to store a variety of major crops for
more than one year after harvest. The technology helps improve food
availability and increase income of small-holder farmers.
In using PICS bags, farmers no longer need
chemicals to control grain storage pests. Grain storage loss to insects is
estimated at 20 percent for major crops such as corn and common beans.
Chukwudi Obi
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
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