Pest prevention during storage, transportation and handling of stored products

Abstract: Cropping and storage systems are considered more resilient to pests when their inherent properties reduce pest occurrence and pressure or limit yield losses in case of pest attacks. Increased resilience of storage and food production systems includes an integration of complementary preventive tactics and techniques into two defensive lines. First defensive line (i.e. resilience of the store/production facility) represents prevention of entry to buildings. Prevention of pest entry includes exclusion of active pest introductions (invasion or penetration) and exclusion (quarantine) of passive introductions either via infested packages or with hidden infestation of raw products (“Trojan-horse infestation”). Second defensive line (i.e. resilience of commodity) represents prevention of pest multiplication in buildings and prevention of pest invasion into a raw or processed commodities and multiplication inside them. The following techniques and tactics can be employed to ensure internal security: “first-in-first-out” stock rotation, anoxic protective atmospheres, low storage temperatures, pest-proof packages, repellents and repellent packages etc. Pest prevention of multiplication inside commodity is realized via using resistant and GMO varieties, or via “immunization” commodity using low-toxic protectants such as IGRs, dusts, etc.