PHYTOSANITARY MANAGEMENT OF Trogoderma granarium Everts WITH METHYL BROMIDE ALTERNATIVES TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY AND SAFETY

Abstract

Wheat crop occupies a central position in agriculture sector and our national economy. Pakistan’s contribution toward global wheat production is about 3.2 percent. The Punjab province is leading producer of wheat with a share of more than 70 percent of the total wheat production of the country. Despite being an agricultural country, food security of Pakistan has remained at stake since long because of poor yield and high post harvest losses caused by the storage pests. On the other hand country has a great exporting potential not only to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to food security and safety but can earn foreign exchange and pay off country’s entire debts within 10 years just equaling our yield to that of Indian Punjab. Present investigations were, therefore, carried out to explore these potentials in terms of reducing post-harvest losses, food security and safety risks caused by the storage pests particularly the Khapra beetle which is a notified quarantine pest internationally. The studies revealed an average loss of 15.5 percent when 10 pairs of Khapra larvae were released for a period of 6 months under the natural conditions. Similarly there were found 33 and 8 percent increase in number of weeviled and broken grains, respectively. Besides, the beetle depleted approximately 4 percent carbohydrates that resulted in 0.35 and 1 percent increase in ash and crude fiber contents, respectively. Although total protein and fat percentages were slightly increased, yet these increases were predominantly due to the percentage loss of carbohydrates as well as production of proteinaceous by-products of live insects, insect fragments, and excreta etc., which could not be sieved from the samples before chemical analysis. Further analysis of about 400 samples drawn from the entire province revealed that quality of Punjab wheat not only meets the international standards rather it is superior in many characteristics including protein content, moisture, bulk density, foreign matter, falling number. However, presence of quarantine pests such as T. granarium, Tilletia spores and Striga weeds render it unmarketable in the quality conscious world. A compatible Wheat crop occupies a central position in agriculture sector and our national economy. Pakistan’s contribution toward global wheat production is about 3.2 percent. The Punjab province is leading producer of wheat with a share of more than 70 percent of the total wheat production of the country. Despite being an agricultural country, food security of Pakistan has remained at stake since long because of poor yield and high post harvest losses caused by the storage pests. On the other hand country has a great exporting potential not only to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to food security and safety but can earn foreign exchange and pay off country’s entire debts within 10 years just equaling our yield to that of Indian Punjab. Present investigations were, therefore, carried out to explore these potentials in terms of reducing post-harvest losses, food security and safety risks caused by the storage pests particularly the Khapra beetle which is a notified quarantine pest internationally. The studies revealed an average loss of 15.5 percent when 10 pairs of Khapra larvae were released for a period of 6 months under the natural conditions. Similarly there were found 33 and 8 percent increase in number of weeviled and broken grains, respectively. Besides, the beetle depleted approximately 4 percent carbohydrates that resulted in 0.35 and 1 percent increase in ash and crude fiber contents, respectively. Although total protein and fat percentages were slightly increased, yet these increases were predominantly due to the percentage loss of carbohydrates as well as production of proteinaceous by-products of live insects, insect fragments, and excreta etc., which could not be sieved from the samples before chemical analysis. Further analysis of about 400 samples drawn from the entire province revealed that quality of Punjab wheat not only meets the international standards rather it is superior in many characteristics including protein content, moisture, bulk density, foreign matter, falling number. However, presence of quarantine pests such as T. granarium, Tilletia spores and Striga weeds render it unmarketable in the quality conscious world. A compatible Wheat crop occupies a central position in agriculture sector and our national economy. Pakistan’s contribution toward global wheat production is about 3.2 percent. The Punjab province is leading producer of wheat with a share of more than 70 percent of the total wheat production of the country. Despite being an agricultural country, food security of Pakistan has remained at stake since long because of poor yield and high post harvest losses caused by the storage pests. On the other hand country has a great exporting potential not only to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to food security and safety but can earn foreign exchange and pay off country’s entire debts within 10 years just equaling our yield to that of Indian Punjab. Present investigations were, therefore, carried out to explore these potentials in terms of reducing post-harvest losses, food security and safety risks caused by the storage pests particularly the Khapra beetle which is a notified quarantine pest internationally. The studies revealed an average loss of 15.5 percent when 10 pairs of Khapra larvae were released for a period of 6 months under the natural conditions. Similarly there were found 33 and 8 percent increase in number of weeviled and broken grains, respectively. Besides, the beetle depleted approximately 4 percent carbohydrates that resulted in 0.35 and 1 percent increase in ash and crude fiber contents, respectively. Although total protein and fat percentages were slightly increased, yet these increases were predominantly due to the percentage loss of carbohydrates as well as production of proteinaceous by-products of live insects, insect fragments, and excreta etc., which could not be sieved from the samples before chemical analysis. Further analysis of about 400 samples drawn from the entire province revealed that quality of Punjab wheat not only meets the international standards rather it is superior in many characteristics including protein content, moisture, bulk density, foreign matter, falling number. However, presence of quarantine pests such as T. granarium, Tilletia spores and Striga weeds render it unmarketable in the quality conscious world. A compatible Wheat crop occupies a central position in agriculture sector and our national economy. Pakistan’s contribution toward global wheat production is about 3.2 percent. The Punjab province is leading producer of wheat with a share of more than 70 percent of the total wheat production of the country. Despite being an agricultural country, food security of Pakistan has remained at stake since long because of poor yield and high post harvest losses caused by the storage pests. On the other hand country has a great exporting potential not only to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) relating to food security and safety but can earn foreign exchange and pay off country’s entire debts within 10 years just equaling our yield to that of Indian Punjab. Present investigations were, therefore, carried out to explore these potentials in terms of reducing post-harvest losses, food security and safety risks caused by the storage pests particularly the Khapra beetle which is a notified quarantine pest internationally. The studies revealed an average loss of 15.5 percent when 10 pairs of Khapra larvae were released for a period of 6 months under the natural conditions. Similarly there were found 33 and 8 percent increase in number of weeviled and broken grains, respectively. Besides, the beetle depleted approximately 4 percent carbohydrates that resulted in 0.35 and 1 percent increase in ash and crude fiber contents, respectively. Although total protein and fat percentages were slightly increased, yet these increases were predominantly due to the percentage loss of carbohydrates as well as production of proteinaceous by-products of live insects, insect fragments, and excreta etc., which could not be sieved from the samples before chemical analysis. Further analysis of about 400 samples drawn from the entire province revealed that quality of Punjab wheat not only meets the international standards rather it is superior in many characteristics including protein content, moisture, bulk density, foreign matter, falling number. However, presence of quarantine pests such as T. granarium, Tilletia spores and Striga weeds render it unmarketable in the quality conscious world. A compatible treatment of are house with 2 % deltamethrin, Lambda cyhalothrin or DDVP. The present findings will surely help in bridging the gap between food security demand/supply and will enable us to improve quality and safety of the treated cereals resulting in enhanced acceptance of our food crops in the international market.