Triple-bag hermetic cowpea storage (PICS)
Almacenamiento hermético de caupí en triple bolsa (PICS)
- Date
- 1987-2007 · confidence medium
- Place
- Maroua, Far North, Cameroon
- Credited to
- Larry Murdock and colleagues of Purdue University, with African partners
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Double-layer polyethylene bags inside a third outer bag, sealed airtight, deplete the oxygen and suffocate cowpea weevils without pesticides. Its use spread from 2007 across West and Central Africa.
The PICS (Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage) project started in 2007; earlier research in northern Cameroon dates back to the 1990s. The place is a marker for the origin of the research.
What it led to
- lower post-harvest losses of cowpea and better prices for farmers
- adoption for other grains such as maize, sorghum and groundnuts
- millions of bags sold to Sahelian smallholders