It is estimated that in the tropics year between 25 and 40% of stored agricultural products is lost because of inadequate farm-and village-level storage. In the field and during storage the products are threatened by insects, rodents, birds and other pests. Moreover, the products may be spoiled by infection from fungi, yeasts or bacteria. In addition, for sowing seed it is important that the viability of the seed (it’s capacity to germinate) is maintained.
In order to minimize the losses during storage it is important to know the optimum environmental conditions for storage of the product, as well as the conditions under which its attackers flourish. Farmers themselves have often developed methods for storing their products. Some of these traditional methods protect the product reasonably well and need at most slight improvements. On the other hand, it is possible that some traditional methods are unsatisfactory, and lead to high losses. Alternatively, the introduction of a new variety may alter the storage or drying requirements. A change in the market situation may also increase the need for other storage methods.