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How to reduce post-harvest losses most effectively and quickly?

16.04.2024  |  Technologies

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The Impact of Global Warming

Rising temperatures worldwide make it difficult to store perishable food items that require refrigeration to prevent spoilage. For example, in India, up to 50% of all perishable goods are lost due to the lack of refrigerated storage, while in Tanzania, up to 97% of meat spoils for the same reason. The inability to refrigerate also complicates long-distance transportation, with farmers struggling to deliver their goods to markets.

An additional complication is that providing refrigerated storage can contribute to worsening the ecological situation. It is estimated that refrigeration accounts for about 1% of global CO2 emissions. This creates a vicious cycle where climate change necessitates increasing the number of cooling facilities, which in turn exacerbates global warming.

Available Solution

One innovative solution is the creation of cold storage options using renewable energy sources. The company ColdHubs, founded by a Nigerian entrepreneur, has developed a "plug-and-play modular cold room" that utilizes solar energy to power its cooling systems. This eliminates the dependence on unreliable electrical grids. Farmers employ a "pay-as-you-store" system to store excess produce as needed. ColdHubs also collaborates with the UN World Food Programme to establish a self-sustaining cold storage system in the market for refugees in Tanzania.

Promethean Power Systems also utilizes renewable energy sources, offering cooling solutions for dairy products. Their refrigeration units store electricity from the grid when available and use it to power their cooling systems only when needed. They also come equipped with backup power from solar energy.

In India, where this system is most widely used, "on-wheels" refrigerators are rare, as rugged, dusty roads often lead to breakdowns, and the high price of diesel makes them inefficient. Cooling milk immediately after collection allows for transportation in insulated packaging, rather than using refrigerated transport. Each such cooler can serve 60-70 dairy farms in a village, enabling them to maintain the quality of milk from collection to delivery to the buyer.

Innovations - Key to Sustainable Future

Sustainable solutions that enable rapid chilling and storage of products, followed by transportation to the point of sale, will reduce food losses. This, in turn, means that harvests can be maximized, and losses in unfavorable climate conditions can be minimized, reducing hunger levels and ensuring farmers a higher financial return on their hard work.

Agrovent can modestly boast of an equally innovative solution. To ensure virtually instant chilling of your produce, we have developed a mobile intensive berry chilling chamber that can be placed directly in the field!

The mobile A-berry cube chilling chamber has everything needed to store berry products for 1 to 3 weeks, allowing berries to be transported over long distances without weight loss or loss of product quality.

For purchasing inquiries, email info@agrovent.com. Our specialists will be happy to provide you with guidance on all matters!