Measuring device prevents bacterial growth in corn silos - alumnus receives highly endowed sponsorship award

Isaiah Eterno Muchilwa conducted research on crop protection as a doctoral student at the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences at the University of Kassel, where he completed his doctoral thesis in 2017. Since his return, he has been teaching in his native Kenya as a lecturer at Moi University in the city of Eldoret.
During his time on the faculty at the University of Kassel, one problem in particular preoccupied him in his home country. "My adversary was and remains a fungus that attacks the maize crop in the storage facilities in my homeland, destroying large portions of it. However, maize is the main food for a large part of the population," Muchilwa reports.

In Kenya, humidity is around 80 percent. This delays the drying of the corn and provides a breeding ground for this toxic fungus, which can lead to cancer and cause deformities in children. Year after year, more than a quarter of the harvest becomes inedible, and some farmers even lose the entire crop.

The measuring device developed by Muchilwa now makes it possible to measure the residual moisture in warehouses. Farmers can thus make better storage decisions, saving larger portions of the harvest. The meter also helps reduce the formation of mold and health-threatening bacteria in silos.

"The Unikat ideas competition gave me a lot of support at the time, and my contacts at the department also always advised me when I had problems or questions. I look back on my time at the University of Kassel with gratitude," Muchilwa says. The prize now expands his opportunities to advance his research and improve the living conditions of the population in Kenya.

The German African Innovation Incentive Award (GAIIA) is awarded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In 2018, the award was personally lost by the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Ms. Anja Karliczek, to four scientists from Africa. The award honors their excellent research achievements, which at the same time have a high exploitation potential. The GAIIA is conceived as project funding to enable the realization of a joint German-African research and innovation project that contributes to the transfer of research results into utilization-oriented problem solutions or product-oriented exploitation in Africa. Each award winner receives 150,000 euros.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Oliver Hensel
University of Kassel
Department of Agricultural Engineering
Tel.: +49 5542 98-1225
E-mail: agrartechnik@uni-kassel.de