Hello Hive
We have recently discovered a weevil attack on our stored grains, and we had to use an emergency approach to arrest the situation and clear out these weevils. Any delay towards doing this will lead to greater multiplication of the weevils, who often pieces through stored grains and damage them, destroying and grinding grains into powder.
The weevils emerging from stored grains filling the entire room
We discovered this some 48 hours ago during a routine check on the stored grains here. Farming activities don't really end when we harvest our grains. It also included proper preservation methods for your crops in order to keep them in good condition in storage prior to their eventual use.
While we had poured the grains to allow them to undergo some airdrying above, and while that was happening, we discovered large numbers of the weevils emerging from the grains.
How and when they had started developing we cannot really tell.
The next approach is to look for the best chemical preservation method that will both kill the weevils and preserve the grains...
The best preservation method we have used here is one that will not constitute a health hazard when the grains are finally eaten.
The chemical preservation method used before now had often had some side effect when the corns were eating. A certain chemical is often sold to my mom, which we dilute with a little water and mix into the corn directly. The instructions are that we can't eat the corn until after 3 months.
Even after such 3 months for the expiration, we often have diarrhea and stomach discomfort eating the stored corn. What we normally did back then was to wash and sundry the grains again before milking and cooking.
Now a better chemical preservation and control measure is now available with less discomfort and health hazards after consumption.
This is Boom, a new chemical from an agrostore that is now commonly used.
It consists of pungent-smelling tablets that are inserted within the corns to both kill existing weevils and prevent the multiplying of new weevils. The tablets don't have direct contact with the corn compared to the former chemical preservation method.
For this, we collect old pieces of clothing. Here, open up the tablets above and tie them in pairs in each piece of clothing.
After that, we fill in our storage bags with corn, inserting the chemicals at intervals.
We have to use gloves and other safety measures.
After filling the bags and inserting the chemicals, you can then tie the bag and keep this in the storage.
About an hour after applying the chemicals, I noticed that some of the weevils were beginning to get weaker in strength, even though I do not know the mode of action of this chemical, and maybe just like some other insecticide, the smell of the chemicals is what causes discomfort and leads to the final death of the weevils. I just hope that this approach will be effective and protect our corn from weevil destruction.
This was the activities we have spend our time doing yesterday. I hope that with this you understand the better chemical approach you can use for your corn that will cause any challenges to your health.