STC introduces GrainPro’s hermetic storage ‘Cocoon’
View(s):Sri Lanka’s public sector State Trading Corporation (STC) has partnered with GrainPro to introduce hermetic storage technology locally via a product named “Cocoon”. Interestingly, hermetic storage technology was first developed by Israeli scientists in 1989. Later, it was trialled for a six month period with the help of Sri Lanka’s Sarvodaya Movement, after which the trial results were reported in a scientific journal in 1991. This eventually led to hermetic storage technology being adopted globally.
Based on this technology, the STC and GrainPro introduced “Cocoons” to facilitate rice being hermetically sealed, leading to the eventual reduction of oxygen and moisture levels that kill insects, restrict mould, etc. It is also noteworthy that the cost of this type of storage, for one kilogramme of rice, for a period of one year, could be lower than Rs. 0.40, while the technology itself has been shown to successfully store any dried commodity for extended periods, from milled rice, maize, green gram, cow pea and soya, to cocoa and coffee, and even dry chilies, etc.
According to a GrainPro media statement, a “Cocoon” is a “gas tight chamber made of white thick PVC, which is able to prevent oxygen from entering and carbon dioxide from escaping. So inside this gas tight container with stored grain, gradually the air changes from high in oxygen and low in carbon dioxide to high in carbon dioxide and low in oxygen, thus causing all living organisms to suffocate. So a Cocoon works like a kind of ‘bio-generator’ where all stages of insect development: insects, pupae, larvae and eggs contribute to an environment that ultimately controls their propagation…
In a hot and humid tropical climate such as in Sri Lanka, it takes a week to ten days to control (insect infestation). The science of insects, entomology, teaches us that at a level of 7 per cent oxygen, insects are weakened and do not replicate, whereas at 3 per cent and below, they die and totally eliminated. So the ultimate effect of hermetic storage is that insects remain under control without the need for any chemical intervention and without having a negative impact on the environment”.
The statement also added that, most often, “paddy is traded on the presumption that it is dried to a level of 14 per cent moisture. However the reality is that most of the paddy traded and stored has higher moisture content. As a result mould development in stored paddy is a serious problem, affecting the overall quality of the milled rice. Researchers of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, which has become an arduous advocate of hermetic storage technology, have scientifically proven that it reduces the amount of broken kernels in the rice mill. Also the phenomena of ‘yellowing’, rice turning yellow as a result of improper drying, is subdued”.
Additionally, the statement noted, “Experience shows that Cocoons when well managed can have a live span of well over 10 years. Recently GrainPro opened several Cocoons in Africa that stored maize for a period of over 12 years with both the Cocoons as well as the maize in perfect condition. With a life span of 10 years the savings of the losses as well as fumigation costs, together with attractive financing possibilities offered by the STC create an opportunity for Sri Lankan rice millers, traders and farmers to upgrade their storage facilities in order to ensure local rice consumers optimal rice quality”.
(JH)