Evaluation of grainsafe II^TM hermetic silo bag for storage of rice seed

The grain samples drawn from gunny bags and hermetic silo bag were analysed for quality parameters such as germination, grain moisture, insect population, milling quality, grain damage and microbial load before the experiment and after completion of six months of storage period. The parameters such as grain moisture, head rice recovery and germination were not much changed for the grains stored in silo bag compared to the initial values. Grain damage and insect populations were also not observed in grains stored in silo bag. On the other hand the grains stored in gunny bags suffered 18% grain damage and also showed reduced germination (80.6%) during 2017. The microbial load and insect infestation were significantly less or nil in hermetic storage compared to gunny storage. Thus, Grainsafe II silo bag found to be a successful storage method for quality preservation of paddy grain.