Author(s)

Delphine Mapiemfu-Lamare^1*, Erasmus Nchuaji Tang², Youmma Douksouna³, Ajebesone Francis Ngome², Christopher Suh², Blaise Nangsingnyuy Tatah¹, Zachée Ambang⁴

¹Department of Agronomic and Applied Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
²Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Yaounde, Cameroon.
³Institute for Basic Sciences Technology and Innovation, Pan African University, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁴Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.

The magnitude of rice grain losses during storage is huge and warrants critical attention. We investigated the diversity of fungi and insect contamination related to losses of domestic and imported rice from local mills and markets, stored under room conditions for 10 weeks in Cameroon. The highest percentage discolored grain was on imported milled white rice (3.5%), 10 weeks after storage. In general, imported rice samples contained the highest fungal load with a proportion of 65.90% compared to 34.3% for domestic samples. Weight loss due to insect damage was up to 19.9% in white milled domestic rice. Among the 67 isolated fungi strains, the genus Aspergillus had the highest prevalence (63.8%). From all the samples, 877 insects were collected with 719 (81.9%) of Sitophilus. It is urgent to develop sustainable and affordable storage methods to limit insect and fungi infestation on rice in Cameroon.

Loss, Quantity, Quality, Safety, Cameroon

Mapiemfu-Lamare, D. , Tang, E. , Douksouna, Y. , Ngome, A. , Suh, C. , Tatah, B. and Ambang, Z. (2023) Post-Harvest Constraints: Fungi and Insects Responsible for Rice (Oryza spp) Losses during Storage in Cameroon. Agricultural Sciences, 14, 785-803. doi: 10.4236/as.2023.146053.