CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, and other life forms for food, fiber, medicinal and other products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture, therefore, is and will continue to be central to all strategies for planned socio-economic development of the country. Rapid growth of agriculture is essential not only to achieve self-reliance at national level but also for household, food security and to bring about equity in distribution of income and wealth resulting in rapid reduction in poverty levels. (Rubenstein J.M. 2003). Agricultural science is defined as the art and science of field crop culture and soil management. The aims and objectives of agricultural science is to increase the production and processing of exportable commodities with a view of increasing their foreign exchange earning, For modernization of agricultural production, Processing storage and distribution through the infusion of improved technologies, For the protection and improvement of agricultural land and resources and preservation of the environment for sustainable agricultural production.
Storage of crops is considered to retain the product essentially its original form usually at a regulated temperature and relative humidity and excludes preservative processes in which the form of the of product is usually altered. For instance, maize storage means storing the maize on cob or shelled and left as grains but not as corn flour, which is a product of processing. Reasons for storing agricultural produce are: To provide seeds for subsequent planting, for economic purposes, to provide food between the harvest seasons. The problems of storage deterioration: Micro-organisms, Insect and Mites, Rodents and Birds.
Statement of the Problem
Maize is grown Marjorly in the savannah area of Nigeria. The fact that in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State, large quantities of maize is bring produced annually, but there is shortage of maize due to the problem affecting the storage of maize production, which includes the following:
Temperature, Moisture, Oxygen, Geographical location, Granary structure, Physical, Chemical and Biological properties of grains in bulks, Micro-organisms, Insects, Mites, Rodents and Birds. There problems cause a large damage to maize. Most of the maize produced in the country is always in excess supply during the harvesting period, most of them are also sold cheaply in the market during the harvesting period and some get wasted due to inadequate storage facilities like Bins, Silo, warehouse, shelf storage, and cribs storage e.t.c.
How to get complete project materials
Step 1: make payment of N3000 to any of the bank below
NAME: JOLLERTEX GLOBAL SERVICES
BANK: WEMA BANK PLC
ACCT NO: 0124522105
AMOUNT: N3000
NAME: TITUS AYANI SOLA
BANK: FIRST BANK
ACCT NO: 3111741042