Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags
They use hermetic storage technology to reduce loss of post-harvest cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) due to bruchid infestations in West and Central Africa.
This oxygen-deprived environment kills Bruchidius atrolineatus larvae,[5] the cow-pea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus),[6] and some other post-harvest pests.
The development of PICS bags began in 1987 when Professor Larry Murdock of Purdue University, along with Bean/Cow-pea CRSP, USAID,[5] and BIFAD, sought a solution to combat orchard infestations of cow-pea harvests in Cameroon.
As such, the project's focus has also evolved to address the need for providing safe, cheap, and effective post-harvest storage solutions to smallholders.
[9] Active from 2007 to 2011, this phase of the project aimed to create the ideal design for a triple-layer, hermetically sealed, commercially available cowpea storage bag.
[2][13] PICS3 aims to improve market access, income, and food security for smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa by expanding the availability of PICS technology[14] to reduce post-harvest storage loss.
[8] To date, PICS bags have been introduced and are in use in Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
[5] By 2012, Purdue University researchers expected each household that used the PICS bags to increase their annual income by an average of $150 USD.
[18] With widespread adoption of PICS bags, global savings of cow-pea harvests were predicted to be worth $500 million USD annually.
Therefore, it has been suggested that this technology could be improved by finding additional methods of lowering the moisture content within sealed bags quickly, to facilitate quicker dehydration of pests and insects.
[7] Since PICS bags do not provide protection from mice, rats, or other larger animals, any Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) aiming to increase their use should ensure that farmers are taught to store their cowpea harvest in an environment as free of these exterior threats as possible.
