Table 1. Stored food losses at farm and village level as reported on the mail survey of Hopfet (1976) ______________________________________________________________________________
Area Type of storage Commodities Percent damage
or loss
________________________________________________________________________
Asia:
Bangladesh Bamboo bins Rice, wheat 5
India Village stores Rice, wheat 1.7
" Village, bags Rice, wheat, millet,
sorghum 3.5-5
" Mud and bamboo Rice, wheat, pulses,
bins, bags sorghum 2-5
Korea Sacks Rice, barley 20
Laos Cribs, mud and bamboo bins Rice 3
Malaysia Cribs in roof Rice 2-5
Nepal Sacks Maize 3-5
Philippines Cribs, sacks Rice, maize 2-3
Thailand Sacks in roof, Maize, rice 5
maize in cribs
Turkey Farm houses,
underground pits Wheat, rice, maize 5
Africa:
Egypt Houses and stores Maize, wheat, rice,
cottonseed 50
Ethiopia Huts on stilts,
underground, bags Grains 5-15
Ghana ---------
Grains, maize, rice 2-3
Malawi Woven cane bins, Maize, groundnuts,
grass baskets sorghum, millet 0.5-1.5
" Cribs Cob maize 15
Sierra Leone Cane baskets Rice 1-10
" " Sacks Rice 10-100
" " Roof and cribs Rice, maize 2-3
Zaire Bags in roof Rice, maize 3
Zambia Farm cribs Cob maize, sorghum,
millet 10
Latin America:
Mexico Cribs, sacks in
roofs Rice, maize 5-10
Brazil Stacks, sacks,
cribs Rice, maize, beans 4-8
Table 3. Reported post-harvest losses of rice world-wide (US NAS, 1978, based upon FAO data, 1977 unless otherwise indicated).
______________________________________________________________________________
Region/Country Total Percent Remarks
Weight Loss
______________________________________________________________________________
Africa:
Sierra Leone 10
Uganda 11
Rwanda 9
Egypt 2.5 (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Asia;
Bangladesh 7
India 3-5.5 Improved traditional storage (Boxall and Greeley,
1978)
Indonesia 2-5
Malaysia 5 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Nepal 3-4 On farm storage
Sri Lanka 2-6 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Thailand 1.5-3.5 On-farm storage
2-15 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Latin America;
Belize 20-30 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Bolivia 16 On-farm storage
Dominican Republic 6.5 On-farm storage
______________________________________________________________________________
Table 4. Reported post-harvest losses of maize world-wide (US NAS, 1978, based upon FAO, 1977 data unless otherwise indicated).
______________________________________________________________________________
Region/Country Total Percent Remarks
Weight Loss
______________________________________________________________________________
Africa:
Benin 8-9 Traditional on-farm storage (Harris and Lindblad,
1978)
Malawi 8 On-farm storage (TPI, 1977; Schulten, 1975)
Nigeria 1-5 On-farm storage
Rwanda 10-20 On-farm storage
Zambia 9-21 On-farm storage (Adams and Harman, 1977)
Asia:
Pakistan 2-7
Latin America:
Belize 10-20 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Brazil 15-40 Farm storage
Dominican Republic 19 Farm storage
Honduras 20-50 Traditional storage, poor facilities (Quoted in
NAS, 1978)
Mexico 10-25
Nicaragua 15-30
Paraguay 25 (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Venezuela 10-25
______________________________________________________________________________
Table 5. Reported world-wide post-harvest losses from all causes of wheat, millets, and sorghum(US NAS, 1978, based on FAO, 1977 data unless otherwise indicated).
______________________________________________________________________________
Region/Country Total Percent Remarks
Weight Loss
______________________________________________________________________________
Wheat:
Pakistan 5-10 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
India 8-25 (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Rhodesia 10 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Sudan 10
Bolivia 7 Stores
Brazil 1-4 Storage
Millets:
India 5 Farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Mali 2-4 On-farm storage (Guggenheim, 1977)
Nigeria 0.1-0,2 On-farm storage
Zambia 10 On-farm storage
Zimbabwe 10-15 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
Sorghum:
Nigeria 0-37 On-farm over 26 months (Hall, 1970)
Pakistan 5
Zimbabwe 25 On-farm storage (Quoted in NAS, 1978)
______________________________________________________________________________
Table 6. Post-harvest losses at farm-level of grain legumes due to all causes (NAS 1978).
Country Total Percent Remarks
Weight Loss
Kenya 30 On-farm storage (De Lima, 1973)
Zimbabwe 5 On-farm storage (NAS, 1978)
(Groundnuts)
Thailand 12-15 Farm stores (NAS, 1978)
Honduras 20-50 On-farm storage (NAS, 1978)
(Dry beans)
Table 8. Amount of food consumed daily and yearly by rodents infesting stored foods.
Rodent Species Amount of food Amount of food
consumed daily (g) eaten yearly (kg)
Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus 15-25 5.5-9.1
Roof rat, R. rattus 8-12 2.9-4.1
Polynesian rat, R. exulans 5-8 1.8-2.9
Bandicoot rat, Bandicota bengalensis 15-25 5.5-9.1
Unstriped grass rat, Arvicanthis niloticus 5-8 1.8-2.9
Multimammate rat, Mastomys natalensis 5-8 1.8-2.9
Spiny mouse, Acomys cahirinus 3-6 1.1-2.2
House mouse, Mus musculus 2-3 0.7-1.1
Vesper mouse, Calomys laucha 3-5 1.1-1.8
Grass mouse, Akodon azarae 3-5 1.1-1.8
Table 20. Descriptions of commensal and indigeneous rodents of stored foods.
______________________________________________________________________________
Common name Head & Tail Weight Food consumed
Scientific name body (cm) (cm) (gm) Daily (gm)
Norway rat 16-25 12-20 250-550 15-25
Rattus norvegicus stocky bicolored
Roof rat 14-22 16-25 120-260 10-15
R. rattus slender unicolored
Polynesian rat 8-12 8-12 50-110 4-7
R. exulans slender unicolored
House mouse 7-10 8-11 15-21 2-3
Mus musculus slender unicolored
Bandicoot rat 17-27 12-20 300-600 15-25 (hoards 3X)
Bandicota bengalensis stocky bicolored
Multimammate rat 10-15 10-15 80-140 5-8
Mastomys natalensis slender unicolored
Unstriped grass rat 11-20 10-15 115-150 5-8
Arvicanthis niloticus stocky bicolored
Spiny mouse 9-13 8-13 20-64 3-6
Acomys cahirinus slender bicolored
Vesper mouse 6-8 3-5.5 10-18 3-5
Calomys laucha slender bicolored
Grass mouse 9-14 5.5-10 10-45 3-4
Akodon azarae stocky bicolored
________________________________________________________________________
Zygodontomys (Cane mice)
Description: Head and body length is 130-145 mm and tail length is 93-100 mm. The tail is
usually shorter than the head and body. The body weight is 45-70 g. The dorsal pelage is
grayish to agouti brown and the the venter is grayish white to buffy gray. The tail is bicolored;
whitish below and gray brown above; the ears are brown. Zygodontomys resembles Oryzomys
but may be distinguished by their relatively shorter tail and shorter hind feet.
Range and Habitat: Z. brevicauda occurs from southern Costa Rica to western Ecuador and
across most of northern South America, usually below 500 m elevation. They are broadly
tolerant of a variety of habitat types; living in open country and in areas of low bushes and thick
ground cover, including croplands, pasture, and clearings in evergreen forest. They are attracted
to cultivated fields and may become agricultural pests.
Natural History: Cane mice are terrestrial and have habits much like meadow voles (Microtus).
They make runways through dense grass and are active at night. Nests are made of grass and are
built at the ends of short burrows in banks or under tree roots. The diet includes seeds, grasses,
corn, rice, and fruit. They probably eat about 4-7 g of food daily. The gestation period is 25
days, litter size averaged 4.6 young, and birth weight 3.5 g. The young opened their eyes after
about 7 days and were weaned at 9-11 days. Females reached sexual maturity at about 26 days
and males at 42 days. Reproduction can occur throughout the year but the timing is frequently
controlled by rainfall.
Rodent references:
Aguilera M., M, 1985. Growth and reproduction in Zygodontomys microtinus
(Rodentia:Cricetidae) from Venezuela in a laboratory colony. Mammalia 49:75-83.
(Really Z. brevicauda)
Barlow, J. C. 1969. Observations on the biology of rodents in Uruguay. Roy. Ont. Mus. Life
Sci. Contrib. No. 75, 59 pp. (Calomys)
Dalby, P. L. 1975. Biology of pampa rodents. Mich. State Univ. Mus. Publ. Biol. Ser.
5:149-272. (Akadon azarae)
DeVillafae, C. 1981. Reproduccion y crecimiento de Calomys musculinus murillus
(Thomas, 1916). Nat. Hist. (Mendoza, Argentina), 1:237-256.
Hershkovitz, P. 1962. Evolution of neotropical cricetine rodents (Muridae) with special
reference to the phyllotine group. Fieldiana Zool., 46:1-524. (Calomys)
Husson, A. M. 1978. The mammals of Suriname. E. J. Brill, Leiden, xxxiv + 569 pp.
(Z. brevicauda)
O'Connell, M. A. 1982. Population biology of North and South American grassland rodents:
a comparative review. Pymatuning Lab. Ecol. Spec. Publ. 6:167-185.
(Z. brevicauda)