The main agents of loss of grain are:
- mammals
- birds
- moulds
- insects
Insect pests are among the worst loss-causing agents to grain farmers and stockists; the GGB is currently the leading insect pest in Kenya. The following are facts associated with the beetle:
a) It causes enormous losses in weight of the grain - three and one half out of every ten produced by the farmer or traded by a shopkeeper may be eaten by the GGB within three months of storage (six bags may be eaten within nine months).b) It causes loss in quality of grain or flour, mainly due to its excrete.
c) It eats the nutrients from the grain or flour, leaving people to eat valueless trash.
d) It exposes farmers, traders and the nation at large to great financial or economic losses.
The types of losses caused by the GGB:
a) Loss in weight of the grain - three and one half out of every ten produced by the farmer or traded by a shopkeeper may be eaten by the GGB within three months of storage (six bags may be eaten within nine months).b) Loss in quality of grain or flour, mainly due to its poisonous excrete.
c) It eats the nutrients from the grain or flour, leaving people to eat valueless trash.
d) It exposes farmers, traders and the nation at large to great financial or economic losses.
The justification for implementation of measures to control the GGB All Kenyans must get involved in implementation of measures to control insect pests, especially the GGB because:
a) Although the pest is small in body size, it has the capability of exposing the population of Kenya to hunger as it can destroy a huge part of the stored maize grain.b) When the pest attacks the grain or any other food crop, it deposits excrete, which renders the remaining food unattractive and unpalatable for human or animal consumption.
c) The pest's disastrous effects cause serious financial/economic losses to farmers, traders and the nation at large.
