The Indian state of Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of bananas in the country cultivating around nine million metric tons (MT) annually, but inefficient postharvest practices lead to massive waste every year. A new cold storage facility plan, led by Danfoss Industries, could spell the end to such huge losses and propel the state into a new era of banana supply. At www.freshfruitportal.com, we spoke with Danfoss India president Ravichandran Purushothaman for more details.

An average of 30%, or 2.7 million MT of Tamil Nadu's bananas currently go to waste largely due to the absence of integrated cold chain infrastructure.

Over the last few years, Danfoss has been working in a district of Tamil Nadu called Theni, improving farming practices to such an extent that it is now considered a world leader in banana production.

The objective is to replicate the Theni model and roll out equivalent cold chain infrastructure across the state and then, in the best case scenario, across all of India.

"Empowered with technology know-how, knowledge on good cultivation practises and supported by post-harvest technologies through Danfoss, Theni farmers have managed to triple their profits," Purushothaman told www.freshfruitportal.com.

However, this wasn’t the case three years ago. Tamil Nadu accounts for the largest production of bananas in India with an estimated nine million MT. Today the productivity of banana in Theni is amongst the highest globally.

"Farmers in Theni have more than doubled their income after incorporating best pre- and post-harvest practises and this has further contributed to employment generation," Purushothaman said.

Danfoss, alongside collaborator Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has been negotiating with the Indian government, stakeholders and farmers across Tamil Nadu to develop several cold chain facilities across the state.

A detailed report is being prepared by the government but Purushothaman says a typical facility will consist of a pre-cooler, cold storages, controlled atmosphere store, refrigerated carriers, packing facilities, a packhouse and ripening chambers.

The significance of improving cold chain infrastructure on India’s food supply

In real terms, the lack of cold chain facilities is currently draining Tamil Nadu of an estimated INR27 billion (US$446 million) annually, according to Puroshothaman.

"However, by appropriate use of technology, especially cold chain solutions and following the cluster approach, we can attempt to reduce food loss by 10 to 12% which can help save close up to INR1500 crores (INR15 billion, US$248 million).

"This cluster approach would require establishing central packhouses across the state (eight to 10) with an estimated investment of 500 crores (INR5 billion, US$83 million). In addition to reducing the postharvest loss this would also lead to employment generation in these belts of 5,000.

"The breakeven for the pack houses in itself could be around four years. There are cold storages for banana in Theni, Trichy, Salem, Dindigul and many small ones have been built in last two years but all of this can only help us handle less than one tenth of bananas we produce. Currently, only eight to ten percent of the bananas produced in the state are routed through cold chain."

How will cold storage facilities help farmers, growers, exporters and the banana sector generally?

Purushothaman explains that the cold chain developments will have added benefits of improving the shelf life of the fruit and could, perhaps, lead to new varieties while improving exports and domestic supply.

"By investing in cold chain infrastructure Tamil Nadu can increase earnings of farmers by 40%, consumers can get scientifically ripened fruit with the right nutrition values, better self-life and can create huge opportunities for the processing of banana products.

"If farmers have knowledge on the right ripening methods, this can help them yield good results. It will also result in production of quality crops which can be catered to export market and also help in meeting domestic market demand.

"Technologies such as cold chain solutions offered by Danfoss help store food at the desired temperature, allowing fruits to ripen in a consistent manner."

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