dc.description.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. |
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