The assessment of losses due to insects and rodents in maize stored for subsistence in Kenya

In Kenya maize in subsistence storage is liable to insect and rodent attack. The losses have been studied over several years and appropriate field survey techniques employing area , cluster and line sampling methods have been developed. The techniques described in the literature, eg volumetric (bulk density) and gravimetric methods were found to be subject to variation from several sources and therefore not suitable in surveys covering widely varying conditions. Alternative methods were therefore developed and are described in this paper. By the use of these techniques the annual loss in subsistence maize due to insects was found to be 4.54 per cent and that due to rodents 1.45 per cent. This loss of approximately 6.0 per cent is equivalent to US $12 million