§ Mr. Moyleasked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that British storage equipment is suitable for use in the developing countries.
§ Mr. OramThe Tropical Stored Products Centre, a department of the Ministry's Tropical Products Institute, maintains close liaison with manufacturers of storage equipment and associated apparatus and advises on modifications for use in the tropics.
The Tropical Stored Products Centre has for instance assisted the primary British silo manufacturer; in modifying designs to ensure efficient air-tightness or gas-tightness and more even temperatures within their structures to effect insect control. This is essential in the tropics but may not be necessary in Britain. The Centre has collaborated with manufacturers in the development of new moisture meters for use with copra, for which there was no suitable meter on the market, and in the development of new methods for inspecting produce. A new British instrument which replaces X-ray equipment for examining cereals has come from the Centre's activities. The Centre also has designed a way of 77W incorporating equipment for the application of insecticides into bulk grain storage plants.