The factors responsible for the loss of grains during storage are:
(a) Biotic factors:- They are the living creatures like insects, rodents, mites, birds and bacteria. They feed on the various types of grains. A pest causes damage to agriculture by feeding on crops. For example, boll weevils a pest on cotton.
(b) Abiotic factors:- They are non-living chemical and physical things. They occur due to moisture (present in food grains), sunlight, temperature, wind and water they all have adverse effect of food grains leading to their loss. Some natural disasters such as droughts and floods are unpredictable. Their occurrence has a great impact on crops sometimes, destroying the entire crop. These factors act on stored grains and degradation, poor germination, discoloration, etc.
