MAS College of Home Science, Chandra Sekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur - 208 002, India.
Rust red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum Herbst.) is responsible for enormous spoilage of milled products and spices. The present study seeps into finding the effective and safer storage method against the infestation of the pest. Ten foods viz., maida, coarse wheat flour, rice flour, dahlia, semolina, coriander, coriander powder, azevine, dry mango fruit chips and mango powder were tested for their effectiveness on the preference and development of the pest in three containers viz., plastic, steel and mud. Coarse wheat flour was found to be the most preferred food by the insect. Among the three types of containers, steel containers were found to be the best for storage as they restricted the multiplication of the pest followed by plastic and mud containers. Apart from the mode of storage, hygienic methods of storing like cleaning the foods before storing, avoiding moisture content using clean containers can aid in preventing infestation by rust red flour beetle.
