Use of light traps for management of insect pests infesting stored food commodities

Globally, food grain storage system ensures food security by preserving grains in silos, warehouses, and other facilities. Post-harvest losses of food grains occur mainly due to unscientific storage, and damage by biotic agents; especially insects, which are main culprits. Until now, only chemicals (predominately aluminium phosphide) have been commercially viable for managing pests of stored commodities in bulk, but consistent use of these chemicals leads to resistance and residual hazards. Researchers are exploring non-chemical and eco-friendly approaches for managing stored grain pests. One such approach is the use of light which exploits the phototactic behaviour to fight against storage insects by attracting and trapping or repelling them. For decades, light has been used for monitoring and trapping insects under field crop ecosystems, which mainly focused on black light (ultraviolet-UV). In this review, we attempted to gather the information and the study reports that focussed on the use of light to manage insect problems in food grain storage. Additionally, case studies showcase the practical application of this behavioural tendency for managing targeted insect pests in storage conditions. Additionally, the future of trapping like automation and sensors application through integration of IoT, AI, and ML for development of smart traps are also given in brief. This will help the researchers to strategize light traps for sustainable insect management and to reduce storage losses for ensuring food security.