Cold Storage at TFA agri initiatives

India is the largest producer of fruits and second largest producer of vegetables.  Post-harvest losses accounts to 25 to 30% of the production. Losses are minimal when temperature is low. So Cold storage are constructed to store perishable goods to prolong the shelf life of products. We have mentioned in our earlier blog post about the challenges farmers face in storing their produce. Our farmers have no other option to sell their produce at the rate fixed by middlemen primarily due to the fact farmers cannot store their produced vegetables.

Vegetables and every farm produce have a minimum shell life of less than a week, out of which at least 2-3 days are spent in transportation and transit. An unprocessed farm produce typically loses 100% of its value within 2-3 days post harvest. Vegetables deteriorate quickly in warmer temperatures, bacteria and fungi which cause the vegetables to rot and deteriorate do not grow in temperatures below 3’C. General rule for storing vegetables is around zero degree centigrade. Some vegetables cannot be frozen to maintain freshness, however at lower temperatures most vegetables retain their nutrients and their freshness.

Cold Storage units will provide temperature between -40*C to +10*Since TFA markets Exotic Vegetable through exports and modern trade, it’s very important to have cold storages. All vegetables which grow in sub-tropical climate will have to be stored in less than 10*C post harvesting.TFA while export to other countries shipment through cold storage containers.

 

Cold storage units provide long term advantages in the life cycle of a crop, All the fresh fruits and vegetables which you see in large retail chains appear fresh, they are indeed fresh because they are basically stored in cold storage. Farm produce shelf life can typically extended to months when they are kept in cold storage. The only exception is Onion. Rest of all vegetables when stored in cold storage increase the life of vegetables many fold.

TFA agri initiatives has proposed multiple  cold storages in Hosur and Chennai to store exotic vegetables like Colour capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, Zucchini etc.To maintain the regular demand and supply TFA has this facility in Hosur and Chennai. Very soon TFA is planning to have cold storage in Bangalore and Coimbatore. Our warehouse’s will be equipped with cold storage will have the ability to store our farm produce at a constant temperature , humidity and other environmental factors can also be controlled in our specialized warehouse. This will help TFA agri initiatives in supplying farm fresh vegetables to our wholesalers are retailers.