Nitrogen Application in Grain Storage
Food grains are one of the most important industries, one that sustain the whole country. Food grain production fluctuates, but the continuity of food grain consumption remains somewhat stable, and only increases with time. For the exact same reason, the state has to maintain certain grain reserves to protect the food supply and to maintain a stable grain market. This requires storing the said grains for long periods of time. To avoid loss of food grain, as they are perishable, some steps have to be taken to preserve them for these long periods. Preservation includes chemical methods that extend the life of these grains while also reducing loss by insects and fungi. Other methods include low temperature storage.
Nitrogen controlled atmospheres are a viable option when it comes to storing grains for long periods of time as it provides both a low temperature atmosphere that inhibits insects and fungi, while also providing an atmosphere that keeps the grain from perishing and maintains their freshness. Also, construction and maintenance of such controlled atmospheres in a storage is not a hard thing to achieve, and is quite cost efficient. There are companies as well as certain states which have nitrogen plants in India, and are already using nitrogen controlled atmospheres to preserve and insect proof their grains.
It is obvious that such facilities require an uninterrupted supply of nitrogen gas, which can only be maintained using nitrogen generators and/or nitrogen plants. The food grain industry, thus, can benefit a lot from nitrogen application in storage, which has the potential to improve the life of food grains and thus improve conditions for whole of the country if adopted across the nation.
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