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A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains or seeds from rodents, pests, floods, and adverse weather conditions. They also assist in drying the grains to prevent mold growth. Modern granaries may incorporate advanced ventilation and temperature control systems to preserve the quality of the stored grains.
These granaries are followed by those in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley from 6000 BC. The made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. Because the climate of Egypt is very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality.
Historically, a silo was a pit for storing grain. It is distinct from a granary, which is an above-ground structure.
China built an elaborate system designed to minimize famine deaths. The system was destroyed in the Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s.
Towards the close of the 19th century, warehouses specially intended for holding grain began to multiply in Great Britain. There are climatic difficulties in the way of storing grain in Great Britain on a large scale, but these difficulties have been largely overcome.
One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to a granary for storage. Today, this can be done using a mechanical Screw conveyor to move grain from one granary to another.
In modern silos, grain is typically force-aerated in situ or circulated through external grain drying equipment.
East Asia
Simple storage granaries raised on four or more posts appeared in the Yangshao culture in China and after the onset of intensive agriculture in the Korean peninsula during the Mumun pottery period (c. 1000 B.C.) as well as in the Japanese archipelago during the Final Jōmon/Early (c. 800 B.C.). In the archaeological vernacular of Northeast Asia, these features are lumped with those that may have also functioned as residences and together are called 'raised floor buildings'.
Southeast Asia
In vernacular architecture of Indonesia granaries are made of wood and bamboo materials, and most of them are built and raised on four or more posts to avoid rodents and pests. Examples of Indonesian granaries styles are the Sundanese people leuit and Minang rangkiang.
Great Britain
In the South Hams in southwest Great Britain, small granaries were built on mushroom-shaped stumps called staddle stones. They were built of timber-frame construction and often had slate roofs. Larger ones were similar to but with the upper floor enclosed. Access to the first floor was usually via a stone staircase on the outside wall. The Barn Guide by South Hams District Council
Moisture control
Grain must be kept away from moisture for as long as possible to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth. Newly harvested grain brought into a granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins.
Modern
Modern grain farming operations often use manufactured steel granaries to store grain on site until it can be trucked to major storage facilities in anticipation of shipping. The large mechanized facilities, particularly seen in Russia and North America, are known as .
Examples
See also
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