Knowledge of the role of hygiene in reducing food loss in farm stores is limited among extensionists, researchers, and farmers. Store hygiene practices during post-harvest handling and storage of maize were assessed using a cross-sectional survey of 342 farmers, with regular follow-up of 40 farmers’ stores over seven months to measure losses caused by insects, and to score the hygiene levels using a standard checklist. Fractional Response Model was used to evaluate the associations between hygiene practices and the losses. Farmers stored their produce in sacks (98.2%) kept in outside granaries (60.1%), or rooms in dwelling houses (39.9%). Co-storage with other items — stover or animal feed (29%), old storage containers (41%), farm implements (30%), other crops (65%) and recycling of old storage bags (40%) were common practices. Nine out of ten farmers cleaned their stores before introducing the new harvest, but only half cleaned their stores during the course of storage. High hygiene scores correlated significantly with lower losses. Storing in the bedroom or living room correlated with lower losses by 2.8 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively, compared to storing it in granaries, while storage in the kitchen correlated with higher losses by 19 percentage points margin. Co-storage was associated with higher losses by 2.8 percentage points. Repairing or disinfesting the store before introducing a new harvest did not significantly reduce losses. Training in grain storage did not have a significant effect either, while maize farming experience and younger age were associated with lower losses by 2.8 and 5.9 percentage points, respectively. Stores where majority of the post-harvest handling decisions were made by women had lower losses by 2.8 percent points. These findings are pointers for the need to strengthen education and mechanisms that enable farmers to put knowledge into practice for effective integrated pest management in farm stores.

在推广人员，研究人员和农民中，关于卫生在减少农场商店食物损失中的作用的知识是有限的。通过对342位农民的横断面调查，评估了玉米收获后处理和储存期间的仓库卫生习惯，并在7个月内定期跟踪40个农民的仓库，以测量由昆虫造成的损失并评估卫生水平使用标准清单。使用分数响应模型来评估卫生习惯与损失之间的关联。农民将他们的农产品存放在麻袋里（98.2％），放在外面的粮仓里（60.1％），或者放在房间里（39.9％）。与其他物品共同存放-秸秆或动​​物饲料（29％），旧存储容器（41％），农具（30％），其他农作物（65％）和旧存储袋的回收（40％）是常见的做法。十分之九的农民在引进新的收成之前清理了商店，但在存储过程中只有一半清理了商店。较高的卫生评分与较低的损失显着相关。与将其存储在粮仓中相比，在卧室或客厅中存储的损失分别降低了2.8和4.6个百分点，而在厨房中存储的损失则增加了19个百分点。联合存储导致的损失增加了2.8个百分点。在引入新的收成之前对商店进行修理或除害并不能显着减少损失。谷物储存方面的培训也没有显着效果，而玉米种植经验和年龄较小分别使损失减少了2.8和5.9个百分点。多数收获后处理决定是由女性决定的，商店的损失降低了2.8个百分点。这些发现表明，有必要加强教育和机制，使农民能够将知识付诸实践，以有效地对农作物进行病虫害综合管理。