Design and construction of an improved metal silo for maize.

Abstract

In East Africa, Maize (Zea mays L) is a major staple food for a large proportion of the population. Its production has increased over the years as population increases and also as people change their consumption habits. Maize has a lager quantity of carbohydrates and significant proportions of proteins, vitamins fats contained in the kernels. This makes it compete favourably as an energy source with root and tuber crops. Maize in Uganda is sold mainly for food in schools, relief by World Food Programme (WFP) or export to neighboring countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi, However, farmers are unable to meet the ever increasing demand and compete favorably in the market due to grain storage losses. The traditional storage methods used like the granaries, jars, baskets, pots, floor storage, bags do not guarantee protection to maize against damage by pests, rodents and moulds. Insect infestation normally commences in the field but most damage is done during storage. The maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) is one of the most serious pests of stored maize grain. The damaged grains have reduced nutritional values, low percentage germination, reduced weight and low market price, some farmers use chemicals to control these pests but the chemicals have adverse effects on consumers. Besides, the farmers are unable to wait for the peak market demand due to fear of these losses thereby getting low incomes. This has also reduced on the food security in the region. This project was focused on the design and construction of an improved metal silo for indoor storage of maize with the aim of reducing on the grain storage losses due to pests, rodents and moulds. It covered the necessary design considerations and the construction of a sealed silo for indoor storage of maize and the way of using it effectively for maximum results. It will also include testing of the efficiency of the silo in reducing storage losses as well as an economic evaluation of the structure. Chapter three gives step by step procedure the researcher went through in order to design the sealed storage silo. The proposed design is to store a capacity of 200kg of maize grains.