Local Development of a Hermetic Storage Container for Quality Preservation of Rice Seeds in the Philippines

Experiences in the implementation of the Philippine government’s Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program (HRCP) showed that storing rice seeds under a hermetic (gas tight) condition using an imported flexible plastic-lined container can effectively prevent storage pest infestation as well as protect the seeds from the quality-deteriorating effect of high humidity during rainy season. However, the available technology is expensive thus limiting its adoption by the local rice seed producers (RSPs). Hence, this study was conducted to develop a low cost alternative hermetic seed storage technology which can easily be mass fabricated locally. A prototype of a hermetic seed storage container (HSSC), equipped with a simple zipping mechanism, was developed and tested to evaluate its performance in comparison with the other seed storage practices/technologies. Results of the three one-year storage trials showed that the HSSC performed consistently and significantly better than the conventional practice (open-piled bags under ambient condition) and comparably with the imported hermetic container (IHC) in maintaining the viability and vigor of the stored rice seeds (hybrid and inbred varieties) as well as in preventing storage pest infestation