Grain and seed storage in France: State of practice and perspectives

Abstract

ARVALIS – Institut du végétal is a French research and development institute working for farmers on different topics: in the field as well as after harvest with storage and quality preservation of grain. This work is carried out with various partners: public and private research institutes and professional organisations. In France, storage of cereals between harvest and use takes place in elevators and on farms. A survey carried out by the French National Office for Cereal (ONIGC/France Agrimer) showed that elevators use various ways to fight against insects, for example with preventive or remedial use of insecticides.
In this frame and given the current regulatory reduction of chemical products on the market, ARVALIS– Institut du végétal recommends the application of preventive practices through vocational scientific and practical training, articles in specialized papers, and meetings. The approach is first to store clean grain free from insects in cleaned premises. Additionally, the most important parameters to control and manage quality of stored products during storage are grain humidity and temperature. Thanks to this procedure, insects might not infest grain. But in case of insect development in the grain, elevator workers can use one of the three authorized liquid insecticides or control treatment. At the same time, ARVALIS is involved in research. The topics are close to the current preoccupations of elevator operators: sampling (how to get a representative sample of grain for insects search), early detection of insects in stored grain, use of aeration to cool grain temperature to avoid attracting insects to the grain and use of physical processes to kill insects (heat…).