Location: Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research
Project Number: 3020-43440-010-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Feb 12, 2021
End Date: Feb 11, 2026
Objective:
OBJECTIVE 1: Improve stored grain management, technology and processing practices to maintain grain end-use quality by controlling or eliminating adverse storage environments, insect infestations.
Sub-objective 1A: Develop an insect monitoring and identification device for behavioral study and pest management in food facility environments.
Sub-objective 1B: Increase efficacy of fumigation of milled and whole grain products through improved monitoring and modeling of fumigant applications.
Sub-objective 1C: Increase efficacy of insecticidal aerosol applications in grain processing facilities based on measurement and modeling of droplet distribution and deposition.
OBJECTIVE 2: Resolve existing issues and develop new technologies and techniques to rapidly and accurately evaluate intrinsic grain and seed quality to improve breeding efficiency, marketability, end-product use and environmental influences.
Sub-objective 2A: Develop imaging methods for the detection of hard vitreous amber color (HVAC) of Durum wheat seeds as a replacement for manual wheat inspection.
Sub-objective 2B: Selecting maize seeds for breeding programs using single seed near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) to improve hybrid development.
Approach:
United States farmers annually (2016-2018) grow 562 million metric tons of corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and other grains to supply the nation and the world with food, animal feed and biofuels. Our project goal is to improve U.S. grain quality and international competitiveness through the application of engineering principles to rapidly measure grain traits and to maintain grain and grain-based product quality after harvest. We propose to develop unique instrumented systems to rapidly measure quality or compositional traits for breeders when selecting traits for varietal development. We also propose to develop technology to detect and control insects and maintain product quality during handling, processing and storage. This research will lead to expedited development of varieties and hybrids by breeders; better systems and information for storage management by farmers and processors, resulting in better profitability and production efficiency, less waste and increased food availability using fewer resources.
