Location: Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research
Project Number: 3020-30600-003-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Nov 18, 2025
End Date: Nov 17, 2030
Objective:
Objective 1: Improve methods of assessing intrinsic grain quality to support plant breeding programs and quality control programs for the food industry
Sub-objective 1.A: Develop imaging and hyperspectral methods for assessing quality in grain seeds or grain products.
Sub-objective 1.B: Develop rapid methods to phenotype breeding lines for traits of interest, such as resistance to wheat stem sawfly.
Objective 2: Develop and enhance management and engineering processes to preserve grain quality in storage, and expand end uses for legumes and other alternate proteins for human and animal feed.
Sub-objective 2.A: Improve effectiveness of fumigation methods and insecticide applications for control of insect pests in stored grain or food facilities.
Sub-objective 2.B: Develop and optimize remote sensing technologies to monitor grain quality during storage.
Objective 3: Improve and develop new pest management tools that automate insect detection and identification and provide robotic insect control delivery mechanisms that facilitate faster response and effectiveness to insect infestations and reduced risks to personnel.
Sub-objective 3.A: Develop automated systems for early detection of insect outbreaks in food facilities.
Sub-objective 3.B. Design and test automated methods for applying and monitoring insecticide applications to improve efficacy and safety.
Approach:
The U.S. is a significant producer and exporter of grain crops, which include both cereals and oil seeds. Unfortunately, climate change is shifting locations of grain crop cultivation and affecting yields with much grain lost during post-harvest storage due to insect damage and suboptimal storage environments. To sustain the quality and supply of cereal grains and preserve food security into the 21st century for a growing world population, we need to continuously develop productive, climate resilient hybrids while minimizing postharvest losses. Our project goal is to improve U.S. grain quality and to preserve the bounties from harvest by engineering methods to rapidly measure grain traits and protect grain in storage from the deteriorative action of insect pests and adverse environments. We propose to expand the applicability of unique instrument systems and methods and develop new ones to rapidly measure grain traits or composition to aid plant breeders in their cultivar developments and to measure quality parameters for merchandizers and food processors. We also propose to develop technologies to detect and manage pest insects and maintain product quality during post-harvest handling, storage, and processing. The research efforts proposed for this project will collectively combine to advance grain quality and trait measurement, protecting quality in storage and postharvest handling, and efficient processing.