Diversity, Damage Patterns, and Management of Stored Grain Insect Pests in Rajasthan, India: A Comprehensive Review
Seema Garg *
Department of Zoology, Govt College, Phagi, Jaipur. India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Stored-grain insect pests remain a persistent constraint to post-harvest food security and the safe storage of agricultural commodities in India. Rajasthan, with its arid and semi-arid climate, wide seasonal temperature variation and continued dependence on traditional storage structures, provides favourable conditions for several storage-insect pests. This review synthesizes available information on the diversity, damage patterns and management of stored-grain insect pests reported from Rajasthan. The review draws on published literature, survey-based reports, government documents and relevant institutional sources to summarise pest occurrence, host associations, feeding behaviour and management options. The stored-grain pest complex in the state is dominated by coleopteran species, particularly Sitophilus oryzae, Rhyzopertha dominica, Trogoderma granarium, Tribolium castaneum and Callosobruchus spp., while lepidopteran pests such as Sitotroga cerealella, Corcyra cephalonica, Plodia interpunctella and Ephestia cautella are also associated with cereals, millets and processed commodities. These pests cause direct grain loss, reduced seed viability, contamination by frass, webbing and cast skins, and deterioration in market quality. Evidence from Rajasthan indicates that storage structure, commodity type, sanitation, storage duration, temperature and moisture conditions strongly influence infestation severity. The review also discusses preventive storage practices, chemical and fumigation-based control, botanical protectants, biological and biorational approaches, and emerging tools such as nanotechnology and artificial intelligence-assisted monitoring. Overall, the available evidence supports a region-specific integrated pest management framework that combines improved storage hygiene, early detection, judicious chemical use and locally validated non-chemical technologies. Important gaps remain in state-wide pest diversity assessment, resistance monitoring and field validation of advanced management options. under regional storage conditions.
Keywords: Stored-grain insects, post-harvest losses, Rajasthan, pest diversity, Sitophilus oryzae, Trogoderma granarium, grain storage, damage patterns, integrated pest management, botanical protectants, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence monitoring