Physical and physiological seed quality of maize landraces stored in metalic silo and with traditional methods in Oaxaca, Mexico

The post-harvest seed losses caused by pests during maize (Zea mays L.) storage are an important concern for farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. To assess the utility of a hermetic container (metallic silo), it was compared with two traditional methods, regarding the physical and physiological quality of the stored seed during nine months. The study was performed in two locations and two sites per location, with six treatments resulting from the combinations of three storage methods (piled ears, tenate and silo) and two maize types (black and white). Seed samples were taken every three months for assessing physical and physiological quality. The best storage method in terms of seed quality was the metallic silo, since it maintained the driest (11.2 % moisture content), purest (98.2 %) and least undamaged seed (5.3 % of damaged seeds) in all sampling dates. The silo also kept the highest percentages of seed germination (82.8 %) and of seedling emergence on sand bed (84.7 % at 14 d). Among varieties, the black maize type was better than the white type on percentage of germination and emergence at 7 d. The traditional storage methods (piled ears and tenate) acceptably preserved maize for three months only. It is concluded that using the silo has been an adequate solution in the region to diminish the losses of seed or grain during maize storage.