For most purposes, pests and procedures are the same for all cereals and other dry commodities.
Cereals spend more time in transport and storage than in processing or the kitchen: in communities in which only one harvest a years is possible, the grain may be stored for as long as 6 months, with consumption removing only the half.
During that period and onward to the next harvest, the grain must be protected from partial or total loss. In a typical year the ration of world grain stocks to consumption will average 22%.
Food and food stuff have been stored ever since primeval humans first kept some over from one day to the next and the basic problem has not change: how to retain a wholesome stock with no loss of quality or quantity.
The causes of loss are also the same: other creatures also with to use the food, be they vertebrate (birds, rodents), invertebrate (insects, mites) or microorganisms (mold).
The primitive family store is still in use in more backward societies: grain is dried in the sun and stored either in a hole in the ground or a simple container.
In very arid climates where the soil is for, the hole is in fact, a reasonable system.
Containers are made from gourds (the shell of a local pumpkin); from clay, either raw or fired; or most commonly, from wickerwork (grain baskets).
The advantages of this is that the same materials and design can be used for a wide range of quantities from very little to several tones.
The basketry may be sealed with clay to prevent entry of insects and small rodents. Termite clay is particularly effective for this.
Storage Grain
