Mar 17, 2020
British experts are in Delhi, Haryana and Hyderabad working out the most effective way of helping farmers to increase economic well being by making the most of improved crop post-harvest management and clean, sustainable chilled distribution systems.
Indian State Governments plan to set up a series of Integrated Pack Houses aggregating and linking clusters of smallholder farmers to markets by refrigerated transport links that use energy efficient and sustainable technologies – reducing food loss and decreasing the amount of wasted produce.
The Government of India is keen to develop projects, including joint collaborative research, that can demonstrate innovative, sustainable technologies for pack House Management and cold-chain solutions. Haryana State Government, for example, is planning to create more than 350 Pack houses in the state whilst the Government of India is targeting 22,000 new agri-processing and logistics hubs.
In partnership with the British High Commission in India and the Agri-Tech sector team at the Department for International Trade, British experts are developing a plan for a UK India collaboration for the first of a kind ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Haryana to support roll-out of sustainable post-harvest management and cooling at scale in India.
Food loss is a major challenge with up to 40% of some produce grown lost between farm and market. Focusing on how food can be saved in the supply chain is as important as food produced.
UK and Indian partners to create template projects showcasing sustainable technology and expertise that could help farmers in India maximise their income by reducing waste, maintaining product quality and connecting to more distant markets. The challenge is to achieve this sustainably using renewable energy solutions.