ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROJECT ENTITLED “ PRECOOLING OF FRESH VEGETABLES IN ZERO ENERGY COOL CHAMBER”

 Status:

i) Work already completed:

Every aspect of the vegetable growers attitude, awareness level and existing knowledge was taken into consideration to select the beneficiary farmers among them. Consequently area under the vegetable cultivation, pattern of farmers participation and problem pertaining to short term storage and transportation were studied closely. This formed the basis for designing the appropriate training strategy and accordingly proper stress on the aspects of training methodology was given. Demonstrations for group of farmers were undertaken to show the method of erection of the structure, method of storage, type of produce to be stored and method of operation of the cool chamber. Each beneficiary was made to contribute the share of Rs. 500/- for erection of the chamber.

 Training

            During the training, various training aids were used and the literature prepared by the KVK distributed among the farmers to depict the importance of the low cost technology. In all 40 training programmes as per the target set out in the project were conducted in the selected villages the reaction and feedback of the beneficiaries were recorded and studied critically during the training. The regular follow-up have helped to increase the participation of the direct beneficiaries in the KVK programmes. The actual adoption of the technology among the farmers in the selected villages among the beneficiaries is 95 per cent.

 Pilot Experiments

             The pilot experiments were conducted to work out the efficacy of the cool chamber in the field conditions as well as the efficacy of the locally grown vegetables in the nearby villages. The detailed reports are enclosed in the annexure.  Various vegetables like brinjal, okra, cluster bean and flowers like jasmine flowers and buds were studied and significant findings have been recorded. The cool chambers had a maximum efficiency during the summer season wherein the vegetables could be stored afresh for a longer period than the conventional storage and handling methods that was practised as handling in bulk, room storage and packing in the gunny sacks.

 IMPACT           

 The popularity of the cool chamber has since increased not only among the farmers but also among the extension agencies of the state as the state department of agriculture, the Zilla Parishad and the other Krishi Vigyan Kendras of the state and the zone. These line departments after taking the cue and results from the KVK Babhaleshwar’s NHB project have also implemented the zero energy cool chamber as the main thrust programme for the farmers of the vegetable growing pockets. Thus the usage of the zero energy cool chamber has spread beyond the scope of the project to the other farmers of the district and the state. Similarly the impact of the NHB project is evident from the fact that the grape and other fruit growers have also approached the KVK for use of the cool chamber for pre-cooling of the grapes and other fruits in bulk. The KVK is actively involved in trying to work out the large capacity cool chamber for storage and precooling of the commodities in bulk.

 SUMMARY

 a)     The conventional distance between the two walls of the chamber can be reduced to 2.5 cm from the normal recommended 7.5 cm.

 b)     Water should given through drip and manually twice in a day for at least 10 to 15 minutes on the wall chambers.

 c)     The mean temperature and the relative humidity difference between the inside and outside the chamber during the harsh summers was found to be 14.7 º C and 54.1% respectively.

 d)     The cluster bean, brinjal and okra could be stored inside the chamber for 5, 6 and 5 days respectively with maximum retention of marketable quality.

 e)     The study was also undertaken to reveal the storability of the jasmine flowers and buds, which was found to be 7.5 hours and 9.5 hours respectively.

 f)       It was also revealed that the other vegetables grown in the region like the tomato, chilli, gourds etc. could also be stored in the cool chamber unto maximum retention of quality for 8 to 15 days inside the cool chamber as per the observations made at the farmers field.

RESULTS, WHICH CAN BE EXPLOITED IN PILOT OR FIELD SCALE

 a)                The chamber after filling the produce need to be covered with polythene sheet below the thrash cover on the chamber to maximise the cooling efficiency if the chamber.

b)                The walls of the chamber need to be irrigated twice in a day either manually or through drip system.

c)                 The vegetables as cluster bean, brinjal, okra, tomato, chilli, gourds can well be stored inside the chamber with maximum retention of quality in the cool chamber.

d)                The flowers as jasmine flowers and buds that have a very short storability can well be stored inside the chamber and therefore the crop can well be undertaken for commercial cultivation on large scale in the region.

e)                 The cool chamber has a very limited capacity of 400 kg which should be strictly be recommended for the small and marginal farmers growing vegetables on small area of 0.05 to 0.20 ha of land in order to facilitate them to market their produce in bulk instead of intermittent harvest and marketing.

 SALIENT FINDINGS / RECOMMENDATIONS

 a)     The zero energy cool chambers is a novel low cost technique of handling, pre-cooling and storing the fresh vegetables and other horticultural produce which should be exploited only at the farmers field level.

b)     The cool chambers have considerable capacity of the storing the vegetables and other produce in field condition therefore the technology with respect to the pre-cooling need to be disseminated on a larger scale by making thrust policy initiatives.

 c)     The medium and large farmers growing their produce in bulk quantities need to be provided with large capacity bulk structure, the technology on which need to be studied further under the field conditions by taking location specific trials on improved large capacity cool chamber evolved by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

 d)     The technology on the cool chamber has yielded significant results with respect to flowers like jasmine having short storability of only a few hours therefore such technology should be strongly recommended for areas growing flowers.

 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE LINE OF ACTION

 The technology has limitations for storing and precooling the produce in bulk therefore the commercial size cool chamber evolved by the IARI need to be studied further for performance at the field level in different growing situations. Therefore further study is required to investigate the bulk storage of produce in cool chamber for usage by large growers.

 The ZECC structure could be made with further refinements to protect the collapse of the wall by refining the engineering design of the structure.