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Mecmar for Africa:
importance of mobile dryers E
very year, 1/3 of cereals produced globally is lost before reaching the consumer, for a total of about 600 million tons of loss. One of the main causes is the presence of aflatoxins – harmful and carcinogenic elements – that expose everyday millions of people to health damage and economic loss. The reason why these toxins occur is humidity, which leads to the degradation of crops; the solution is drying through mobile grain dryers. Advantages of grain drying Drying has been a technique known for thousands of years, but its mechanization through grain dryers is the turning point that can bring a decisive added value in terms of health, economy and social well-being. The grain dryers are specifically designed to remove moisture from any type of cereal (corn, rice, barley, soybean, ‌). These machines
10R | May - June 2020
operate an effective and rapid treatment, without damaging the beans. Mobile grain dryers represent the optimal solution for any farm or farmer. Their use allows to eliminate several risks, like the presence of aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are among the most carcinogenic existing substances: they can cause serious damage to health, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, both in humans and in animals. These mycotoxins represent a danger not only for the liver, but also for the kidneys, lungs, urinary tract and digestive system. The use of mobile grain dryers allows to eliminate humidity and therefore the presence of aflatoxins, but there are many other advantages. Traditional methods of sun drying implicate a long time, unpredictability due to variable atmospheric conditions, as well as risks of attack by birds or rodents and risks of theft of the cereal.
