Resumo

PERMUY ABELEIRA, Nénsida et al. Postharvest losses of common bean seed in a traditional storage system. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2008, vol.34, n.1, pp.91-100. ISSN 0568-2517.

The municipality of Gibara has historically been known by its diversity in agricultural crops and particularly for its tradition in the cultivation of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), an important leguminous staple in the diet of the local population. In this municipality, the town of Velasco is known as Cuba's granary. In this region producers have common bean losses during storage that in many occasions affect the economic revenues, its availability for consumption and the seed for planting, however, farmers do not know the causes that provoke those losses. It was for the above reasons that this study was conducted during the years 2003-2005 with the aim of estimating the damage and losses of the common bean in the traditional storage system in the municipality of Gibara. To achieve the objective a methodological procedure proposed by (Raboud et al., 1984), that fits to the domestic conditions was used. The results verified that the producers do not always use the appropriate practices for the handling of dry beans before being stored and not all have appropriate storage facilities to keep large volumes of grain without loosing its quality and quantity. The losses in storage can be up to 10% according to the storage conditions. The greatest damage and losses were caused by pathogenic fungus and insects, which were favoured by the combination of a high initial moisture content and temperature in the mass of the stored grain.

Palavras-chave : Phaseolus vulgaris L.; postharvest; seed moisture.

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