Estimates of quantitative and qualitative losses due to Bruchids damage in stored food legumes in Morocco

Abstract

Bruchids are considered the most destructive insect pest of food legumes during storage in Morocco and worldwide. The knowledge of the nature and extend of post-harvest losses is much more extensive for cereal grains than for legumes. The objective of this study, which was carried within the “India-Morocco food legume initiative” is to identify the different species of insect pests attacking food legumes in Morocco, evaluate their qualitative and quantitative damage and associated losses after summer storage. The results obtained highlighted the dominance of the Bruchidae family; especially for faba bean. More than 50% of the beans carried bruchid attacks. Quantitative losses and correlations between the number of bruchids emerging holes and the germination capacity were also studied.