author(s)
Arvind Singh, Gaje Singh, SK Sachan, Hem Singh, Gopal Singh and Pooran Chand

abstract
A survey was conducted to find out the effect of grain moisture on infestation caused by rust red flour beetle T. castaneum (Hrbst) in basmati rice at Meerut district during Jan. 2018 to Dec. 2018. The samples were collected from ten retailers around the Meerut district. The average moisture content of basmati rice grain was 11.54 Per cent and average grain infestation caused by T. castaneum was 5.14 Per cent during the year from Jan. 2018 to Dec. 2018. The highest mean moisture content (13.10%) in grain was recorded with 6.41 Per cent infestation in second fortnight of September 2018 and lowest moisture content (10.06%) with 3.96 Per cent infestation in second fortnight of June 2018. The average moisture content (11.44%) and average infestation (5.21%) were recorded in the samples procured from different retailers. The minimum moisture content (10.45%) and minimum grain infestation of (4.95%) was found in samples procured from M/s Prashant provision store, near Daurala sugar factory, Daurala (Meerut) where as the highest moisture content (12.14%) and highest grain infestation (5.61%) was recorded from the grain procured from M/s Shiv provision store, Pawlikhas (Meerut). The positive correlation (r= 0.93) was calculated between moisture content and grain infestation caused by T. castaneum.