Feed storage and Godown

management, Estimation of storage capacity and stack plan

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.PTVM/2015-29

Feed storage

• Need for scientific storage of Animal feed

To maintain both their quality and quantity of feed.

• Need for scientific storage of Food grains

If the prices are low, farmers have to store grains till the

market is favorable.

Food grains are stored for one year for household

consumption .This improves cooking quality.

• Storage loss: it is measured as a reduction in weight.

But this loss may be quantitative as well in terms of

nutritional and germinative i.e. qualitative. And it can

be reduced by better management at different levels of

storage.

• Along with these losses other losses like fallowing may

occur.

Insects, mites and rodents - eat away the germ portion

of the grain rendering it unfit for germination.

Metabolic activities of insects and mites cause dry

heating of the grain.

Mites impart objectionable color to the produce.

Presence of higher moisture contents cause sprouting,

moulding and heating.

Various chemical changes causes acidity and

deterioration of gluiton, vitamins, etc.

• Storage guidelines

1. Store all feed and ingredients at a cool temperature

2. Keep feed dry to prevent fungal or bacterial growth.

3. Prevent rodent or insect entry into feed.

4. Use antioxidants to preserve fats and oils in ingredients

and feed.

5. Use stable forms of vitamins.

6. Expiration dates are required for all food items.

Basic norms for Ideal godowns

Ideally built to protect the produce from ground

moisture, rain, floods, rodents, birds, cattle, thieves,

fire and obnoxious odour.

Provides necessary facilities for inspection, dis-

infestation, loading, unloading.

Should have proper transportation.

Has adequate ventilation.

It should not close to grain fields, salvage, dumping

grounds, sewage, slaughter house, disposal clocks, etc.

The structure shall be so oriented that it will receive

the minimum solar radiation.

Godowns are classified into following 3 categories:

Type of Godown Capacity Small sized godowns less than 1000 MT

Medium sized 1000 MT - 5000 MT.

Large sized Above 5000 MT

Site for Godown construction Raised and well-drained area.

Avoid construction in residential areas

No trees near the structure, the roots of which affect the

foundation. The structure should be at least 3 m away

from any branches of trees, poles etc. so as to avoid the

access by rodents

Area should have good transportation and Sufficient

parking and maneuvering space for vehicles.

Maximum attention should be paid to the hygienic

and sanitary conditions of the area and the following

minimum distances should be maintained:

Units Distance from godown

Bone-crushing mills, garbage-dumping grounds, slaughter-houses, tanneries and hide-curing centers or such other places, the vicinity of which is deleterious to

the safe storage of food grains.

500m

Dairies and poultry farms 300m

Factories and other sources of fire such as workshops, hay stacks, timber stores and petrol pumps.

150m

DESIGN: While designing godowns, consider the safe

bearing capacities of the soil. Trail pits and bores

should be made before designing the foundation and

even before preparing the estimates for the building.

Wherever necessary, soil tests and soil load tests

should be conducted.

For designing structures, the wind loads and

earthquake loads would have to be considered.

Construction of godown

Foundation:

Consist of lean cement concrete (1:5:10) for the walls

and reinforced cement concrete (1:2:4) footings.

A leveling course of lean cement concrete (1:5:10), at

least 75mm thick, shall be provided under the

reinforced cement concrete footings.

To meet the menace of white ants and rodents,

suitable pesticide treatment shall be done in the

foundations and the under floors.

Flooring:

Selected earth filling to avoid cracks in constructions.

A layer of sand of 23 cm thick thoroughly watered and

well consolidated.

A layer of cement concrete (1:5:10) 7.5 cm thick.

A layer of bitumen maxphalt 80/100 or equivalent

spread uniformly at the rate of 1.7 kg/ m2 or a layer of

700 gauge polythene sheet.

A layer of cement concrete (1:5:10) 7.5 cm thick over

the waterproofing layer of bitumen.

A top wearing coat of 5 cm thick cement concrete

(1:2:4) finished with a floating coat of neat cement

shall be provided.

Walls:

The design of the walls shall be in accordance with the

general constructional practices (IS: 1905-1969)

• Brick or stone masonry in cement mortar (1:6).

• Wall thickness – minimum 34 cm.

• RCC columns at a spacing of 4.65 m center to center in

order to provided support for trusses (for gable walls and

partition - at a distance of 4.9 m)

• Gable wall - brick or stone masonry in cement mortar (1:4)

up to a suitable height, and at least 46 cm in thickness.

Roof:

• Steel rods or tubular trusses - fixed on supporting structures at

a height of 5.60 m for the road-fed and 6.35 m for the rail-fed

godown from the floor level for plat forms 3.35m height for

road-fed and for meter-gauge railway godowns and 4.35 m for

those fed with broad gauge.

• Roofing material - corrugated asbestos sheets or galvanized

corrugated sheets, steel sheets or corrugated aluminum sheets.

• Sheets shall project at least 46 cm from the outer surface of the

longitudinal walls.

Doors:

• Normally be steel rolling shutters.

• Not less than 2.45 m X 1.83 m.

Ventilators:

• In longitudinal walls two steel ventilators of opening not

less than 1.494 m X 0.594 m shall be provided in each

bay between RCC columns

• The ventilators shall be fixed 15 cm below the top edge

of the wall.

Finishing:

• The internal faces must be plastered and white washed

and external faces provided with color wash.

• All steelwork and woodwork should have two coats of

superior quality paint over a coat of primer so as to

prevent against rusting and deterioration

• The paint to be used inside the godown for steelwork

and steel/aluminum sheets shall resist the adverse

effects of fumigants.

Drainage:

• To drain off the rain water from the roofs of main godown and

platform - cast iron or asbestos cement pipes of diameter not less

than 10 cm.

• Surface or underground drains to drain the rain water from the

storage premises shall be made.

Water supply:

• If municipal supply of water is not available, an independent source

such as a tube well is required.

• An elevated water tank of required capacity along with

underground pipes for water supply distribution has to be provided.

Electricity supply:

• 220/ 440 volts shall be arranged for water pumping,

motors, ventilating fans lighting inside the building and

premises lighting.

Roads and Parking:

• 10 m wide roads shall be provided between the godowns

and at the sides for movement and parking of trucks during

loading and unloading.

• Sufficient parking areas have to be provided separately for

trucks and other vehicles.

Boundary Wall:

• Adequate height compound wall shall be provided

along with a gate

Miscellaneous equipment required:

Adequate office equipment, laboratory equipment (such

as sampling and grading equipment, moisture meter,

analytical balance, sieves etc.), communication

equipment, weighing equipment and fire fighting

equipment.

Ancillary structures• A small compact block consisting of an office room, a

store room and separate room for keeping pesticides may

be provided at each site.

• For small capacity godowns, the following sizes of rooms

are suggested

– (a) Office room 4.5 m X 3.5 m

– (b) Store room 3.5 m X 3.5 m

– (c) Chaukidar-cum-switch room 4.0 m X 2.25 m

• For large capacities of 5000 MT and more, the following area

are recommended for office block:

– (a) 5000 MT →100 sq m

– (b) Above 5000 & up to 10000 MT→ 180 sq m

– (c) Above 10000 & up to 20000 MT →278 sq. m

For large capacity godowns, the following ancillary structures

may be provided for each center in addition to office block

• Chaukidar and supervisor quarters: Adequate residential

provision for security and supervisory staff should be made

depending upon the site conditions.

• Isolation shed: To keep infested or damaged stocks before

they are finally disposed.

– Preferably have RCC flat roof.

– It shall be partitioned into no. of compartments to keep

infested and damaged stock separately.

• For the staff and laborers, adequate facilities of drinking

water and toilets should be provided.

• For the fire fighting purpose, a network of water supply

pipelines with fire hydrants at suitable locations may be

provided to ensure supply of water at any time.

Storage capacity Capacity of Isolation shed

No of compartments

Up to 5000 100 MT 1

Above 5000 & up to 10000 MT 150 MT 2

Above 10000 & up to 25000 MT 250 MT 2

Above 25000 & up to 50000 MT 500 MT 3

Above 50000 & up to 75000 MT 750 MT 4

Above 75000 1% of storage Minimum of 4

Estimation of Godown Capacity

• Effective Capacity= Length X Breadth X height

• While working out the stack height in bags 2'-3' overhead

space should be left for operational purpose. The stack

height should not be taken above 16 bags.

• The Central and all State Warehousing Corporations are

following a design on the basis of Indian Standard viz. IS:

607 - 1971 (code of practice for construction of bagged

food grain storage structures)

• The stack size for both 2500 MT and 5000 MT godown

is 9.15m X 6.1m X 4.57m.

• The passage between the two stacks is 1.56m, parallel

to the width of the building, and 0.76 m in the

longitudinal directions and around the stacks at the

periphery.

Stack Plan

Stack Plan should be chalked out by keeping in mind the

following 3 points:

Maximum space is put to use for storage of custom.

Proper alleyways are left for carrying out handling

operations with ease and efficiency.

Maximum benefit of aeration and ventilation arrangement

available in the godown is drawn as far as possible.

Stack Size:

• The standard size of stack is 30' x 20'. It can, however,

be reduced, if necessary, in view of the size of the

godown but in no case stack size should be more than

30' x 20'.

• Stack lines should be drawn with paint to mark the

boundary of the proposed stacks.

Common practices at godownDunnage: The bags should not keep on the floor (it

restricts the free movement of air → creates a fertile

ground for the growth and development of insects and

pests.) – Wooden crates, Polythene sheet sandwiched

between 2 layers of mats, Wheat, Paddy husk, etc.

• Wooden crate is an ideal dunnage as it keeps the stock

about 6" high from the floor and provides constant

circulation of air under the bags.

Inspection of bags at the time of receipt :

Examine carefully. Bags which are cut, torn slack or damage

by insects, moisture, dampness or having deleterious

refractions or contamination should be segregated.

Infested & Moist Lots:

• Bags containing living insects should be stored outside the

godown and fumigated immediately. After dis-infestation,

these bags should be stored in godowns.

• Moist grains should be removed from the bags and

spread out for drying and thereafter stored.

Sampling:

• From 10% bags selected at random, samples should be

drawn taking out a handful from different levels. 4

samples each of 500 gms should be formed out of the

samples thus drawn, one of the samples should be

analyzed in the laboratory and the remaining 3

samples should be sealed in presence of depositor.

Prescribed specifications should be followed for

analysis of the samples

Rodent or Rat Proofing:

Permanent solution, the horizontal projections at plinth level should

be provided. Any suitable chemical control should be adopted as

and when there is infestation, but the projection at plinth level is

considered as the best.

Anti terminate treatment:

The wooden logs used for dunnage should, however, be treated

before stacking.

Bird Proofing:

The ventilators should be fitted with 25 mm X 51 mm size iron mesh

for restricting the birds from coming in.

Fumigation:

Pre-monsoon and Post-monsoon fumigation should be done.

Spraying of insecticides and pesticides should be done as and when

any infestation is noticed.

Quality checking:

There should be provision for checking the quality before receiving

any lot for storage.

Main quality check is the safe limits of moisture content.

Besides moisture content, the lot should be checked for any increase

in temperature, fungus attack and cake formation and insect

infestation from time to time.

Use of Insecticides

Compound Mode Dose

Aluminum Phosphide

Fumigation under the gas proof

if infestation is noticed @3 tablets per MT

fresh stocks @2 tablets per MT

Malathionsprayed on walls / alleyways / bags /

surface

1:100 ie. 1 part of malathion and 100 parts of water.

3 Lts /100 sq mts or 4 CC per 100 bags

Deltamethrin spraying120 gms of deltamethrin + 3 lts of water / 100 sq mts of surface area

once in three months.

Other works• use portable steps to enter godowns in order to avoid

rats.

• Do not allow poor specification for construction.

• Do not extend stacking beyond the stacking lines.

• Do not exceed stacking of bags beyond the specified

limit.

• Do not exceed the dosages prescribed for fumigation.

• Do not keep the infested grains along with good stock.

Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.PTVM/2015-29

T H A N K Y O U