For a long stored and healthy maize harvest it is good to know how to store maize properly.
Make sure that your storage location is airtight, so that pests don’t have a place to live.
Mud granaries
Mud granaries should be built on stones to protect them from termites. They have a flap, which is on the bottom of the granaries. Furthermore, they have two covers: one is made out of clay and one is made out of straw. These covers protect the harvest from pests.
It is important to always clean the granaries and keep them dry. You can also burn straws inside, to disinfect them. Prevent broken or cracked walls, covers or ground. If you find broken spots repair them immediately. Everything should be in a good condition. If you want to extend the durability, you can add neem leaves.
Never put old and new maize together. The varieties could be different. Furthermore, one of the sorts may be attacked.
Other storage possibilities
Next to the mud granaries you can also store your harvest in metal silos, drums, or bags. If you use bags you can use PICS bags which are a set of three bags: two inner polyethylene plastic bags and one woven polypropylene bag. When you don’t have any of these storing items, you can also use a normal bag. Then you have to add conservation agents, because the normal bags aren’t airtight.
All of these opportunities should not touch the walls or the ground and should be store on wooden pallets.
