Abstract Maize is the main crop cultivated by small scale farmers (SSF) in Mexico, and its production represents an important goal for local food security. However, SSF very often face severe post-harvest losses in maize, mainly because of insect pests and the lack of suitable storage technology. This study was conducted to compare the field effectiveness in terms of maize quality under on-field conditions of SSF of two improved hermetic storage technologies with the traditional storage. The field experiment was performed on-farm in the highlands of Central Mexico. Maize grains were stored in three storage devices: hermetic plastic bag (sBag), hermetic plastic silo (Bioxilo), or traditional polypropylene sacks. The study considered the quantitative evaluation of storage, physical, nutritional, and industrial qualities of maize after 4, 8 and 12 months of storage. Environmental conditions of storage such as oxygen levels, temperature and humidity were monitored. After 1 year of field storage, compared with traditional sacks, sBag and Bioxilo showed a significant lower losses in storage due to insects. When controlled infested maize by artificial insect infestation methods was used, the improved technologies were also effective in reducing grain losses. Furthermore, both sBag and Bioxilo prevented grain quality detriment in terms of physical, nutritional and industrial (for tortilla and seed) properties (p

中文翻译：

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改进的密封储存技术对墨西哥中部玉米品质的田间有效性

摘要 玉米是墨西哥小农（SSF）种植的主要作物，其生产是当地粮食安全的重要目标。然而，SSF 在玉米中经常面临严重的收获后损失，主要是因为虫害和缺乏合适的储存技术。本研究旨在比较两种改进的密封储存技术与传统储存技术在 SSF 田间条件下玉米质量的田间有效性。田间试验在墨西哥中部高地的农场进行。玉米粒储存在三种储存设备中：密封塑料袋 (sBag)、密封塑料筒仓 (Bioxilo) 或传统的聚丙烯袋。该研究考虑了 4 年后玉米的贮藏、物理、营养和工业品质的定量评价，8 和 12 个月的存储。监测储存的环境条件，例如氧气含量、温度和湿度。经过 1 年的田间储存，与传统麻袋相比，sBag 和 Bioxilo 因昆虫而导致的储存损失显着降低。当使用通过人工昆虫侵染方法控制受侵染的玉米时，改进的技术在减少谷物损失方面也很有效。此外，sBag 和 Bioxilo 在物理、营养和工业（玉米饼和种子）特性方面都防止了谷物质量受损（p 当使用通过人工昆虫侵染方法控制受侵染的玉米时，改进的技术在减少谷物损失方面也很有效。此外，sBag 和 Bioxilo 在物理、营养和工业（玉米饼和种子）特性方面都防止了谷物质量受损（p 当使用通过人工昆虫侵染方法控制受侵染的玉米时，改进的技术在减少谷物损失方面也很有效。此外，sBag 和 Bioxilo 在物理、营养和工业（玉米饼和种子）特性方面都防止了谷物质量受损（p