
Cold Chain Management
Energy Efficiency in Integrated Cold-chain Sector
India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. The time taken for the farm produce to reach the market increased and further augmented the food losses across the supply chain. A comprehensive study conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) estimates that in the case of fruits, overall losses range from 5.8% to 18% while in the case of vegetables this range is between 6.8% to 12.98%. The food loss that occurs post-harvest and before connecting to markets is effectively a loss of saleable volume and value and is an economic burden on the food supply system.
The Government is committed to its goal of Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) by 2022-23, and the inter-ministerial Committee on DFI emphasized that modern agri-logistics and a revised market architecture is necessary to achieve this objective. Agri-logistics is central to mitigate food loss by physically connecting farm produce to consumption points, providing farmers the option to expand their selling range and offers them a choice of markets. Agri-logistics ensures that farmers’ efforts result in economically gainful productivity and is the backbone of future agricultural development.
The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) launched in March 2019 highlights that the cold chain sector offers an excellent opportunity for reducing cooling demand, energy consumption and refrigerant requirement through improved design and use of energy-efficient building material, cooling equipment and information technology. Bureau of Energy Efficiency has recently conducted a detailed study on assessment of options for enhancing energy efficiency in the cold chain sector with a focus on packhouses. Some of the major recommendations of the study are:
- Establish guidelines for good practices in Operation and Maintenance.
- Establish guidelines for energy efficient design specifications, materials and equipment selection.
- Enhance awareness about energy efficiency in post-harvest management.
- Introduce a framework for energy- use reporting and benchmarking.
- Develop training and certification on energy efficient post-harvest management and pack-house operation.
BEE, which is already a key stakeholder in operationalizing the ICAP recommendations, envisages to work synergistically with the M/o Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare (MoA&FW); M/o Food Processing Industries (MoFPI); and Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) for aligning the ongoing efforts on DFI and realize the importance of a robust cold chain infrastructure to provide essential market linkages to reduce food loss and ensure food security. It is also proposed to leverage the ongoing platforms, including the cold chain thematic group, formed by M/o Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for the implementation of ICAP, to align the execution of this study’s recommendations.
Sikkim SDA developed Cold Chain Management Knowledge Portal.