Harvested maize stored by smallholder farmers to provide food between seasons may be in storage for as long as 12 months. During this period it is highly susceptible to insect pest damage. 

This new paper, published in 'Crop Protection' evaluates the efficacy of five brands of hermetic bags in storing three maize varieties under two contrasting agro-ecologies in Guruve and Mbire districts of Zimbabwe, for two storage seasons. 

Summary points: 

• Efficacy of five hermetic bag brands in storing three maize varieties was compared.
• All the hermetic bag brands were equally efficacious.
• The dominant storage insect pests recorded were S. zeamais and S. cerealella.
• Hermetic bags more effectively protected stored grain than a synthetic pesticide.
• Insect damage was higher in white hybrid than biofortified or local maize varieties.

This paper is an output from the IMMANA Grant NUTRI-P-LOSS: Nutritional Postharvest Loss Estimation Methodology