Sustainable Storage Refrigeration Systems For Developing Countries

GA. You have correctly pointed out the route cause. Enthusiastic youth like OP should put united effort to get feasible solution.

Dear Sh. Shreyasi Ghosh: Yes your concern is correct. The problem is those who can help Indian poor treating "Helping poor as a business" opportunity. Few months back I have approached one university professor with an idea to benefit farmers. In most parts of India farmer produce vegetables and they are forced to sell their crop for very low price or throw their hard produced vegetables on roads; this because of "Middle men" who create "Shortage of Cold storages" or Transport. My idea is to convert such vegetables' in to soups or juice using very simple mobile unit.

I have one idea to develop a refrigeration compressor that consumes only 35% of present commercially available one. Request you form a group and start working towards problem solving direction and STOP FARMERS DECLARING CROP HOLIDAYS.

How do "Middle men" create "Shortages of Cold Storage or [shortages of] Transport"? And why would they want to?

Not to rule it out in advance, but I am highly skeptical of any alleged compressor that consumes only 35% of the power of normal compressors.

What keeps small groups of farmers from forming cooperatives, building their own shared storage facilities, and thereby extending the shelf life of their produce?

In India farmers can not sell directly. First vegetables go to market yard and then actioned through agents/ co-operatives. Farmers not rich to own cold-storages'. some private operators maintain cold-storages'. When formers are about to cut their vegetables, cold-storage owners, transporters and selling agents create artificial shortage and try to buy at throw away prices. This year some parts of India many formers declared crop holiday. For example: in any super market in India tomatoes are sold Rs.10/- per kg or above and former never get more than Rs.2/-. My proposal is we should develop mobile pulp making equipment and though modern digital communication find if any former is not able to get good support price, send the mobile unit and convert tomatoes in to pulp. Pulp can be stored very easily for 5 days without any clod-storage.

Why not (perhaps with some other investors) build a cold storage (or maybe a controlled-atmosphere storage, depending on the product)? Offer Rs.5/kg to the farmers, and sell premium fresh produce (rather than pulp) at Rs.10/kg to the downstream market.

Are there defective political structures that prevent this?

Yes, it is political stunt. except Punjab, some parts of Haryana/ Uttar Pradesh, rest all of India formers are very poor. This year for the first time many former decided to declare crop holiday. Reason: Duplicate seeds & duplicate fertilizers are supplied to them. at the end still if formers manage to grow something they are not getting minimum support price forcing them declaring crop holiday. The government at many places failed to ensure original or genuine products to farmers. Neither former is benefited nor the end consumer is benefited.

What do you mean by can't sell directly. Farmers in your country can't get licensed to sell to the public like road side stand? If that is the case then this is the first law you need to get repealed. If you are going to organize don't do it to change the product. Do it to change the laws. Processed foods have a lower nutrition value.

A lot of farmers here set up road side stands and sell to the public. Their excess goes to the market. Some even are contracted by the retailer that sells to the public.

I don't think these middle men as powerful as you make them seem can stand up to the masses with empty bellies. Or the out cry of those that can afford it at high produce prices.

Have you ever been outside of the US?

What he says about business in India is reasonably accurate.

Many of the poor farmers will live and die without ever having been more than a few kilometers from their birth place.

The locals have food - they are other farmers. The purchasers live in the city.

Yes I have just not to India. Yes I understand what you imply. Heck some that goes on even here. Does it not seem strange that when schools let out for summer vacation. All the dairy farmers have problem with the bacteria count in their milk so dairies offer a lower price. Still processing the produce will not stop these middlemen they are force to sell to. Whats to stop them from throwing a wrench into the processing idea. You have to curb their power.

Even here I have heard the average person does not venture more the 25 miles from their birth place over their life time. Isn't that true everywhere

"The locals have food - they are other farmers. The purchasers live in the city."

Isn't that true everywhere.

Dear Sir,

I liked your Idea of forming a group and start working on it.

But it need guidance & motivation from experienced ones.

I am studying in one of the most Prestigious college of India, Nit Surat.

There are a lot of facalities here to work on this project, but we lack guidance.

Your suggestions will be valueable for me.

Thanks for replying.

The almost total lack of interest in working for the common good holds many things back in India.

Lived in Surat for a few years and at Hazira (Essar Steel) for many years. The poor farmers do have a tough way to go.

Anytime a coop is organized it becomes a political power base for some politician and the work for the poor guy stops - except at election time.

Even better than throwing the rascals out (only to be replaced with other rascals?) would be to institute some Constitutional limitations on what politicians can do in the first place. (Such as roadblocking consensual arrangements among anybody.)

'Such as roadblocking consensual arrangements among anybody'

How do you roadblock consensual agreements.

If anything is roadblocked it is because consensus was lacking.

GA! To fix politics people need education which is also roadblocked by the persistent cast segregation tradition. It will be up to Indians to overcome these hurdles, by developing education to partly dismantle some of this traditions which give a foothold to greedy advantage-taking by fellow countrymen. Education is still an expensive achievement in India. I spent a short time there, and there is a chasm between the power and knowledge of the peasants and the educated. It will take time and a lot of morally sound Indians to improve the situation. The dream of fixing others problems has practical and ideological limits on both sides of the fence.

Education must be delivered without the negation of personal and national values. The failure of "superiority" is in the destructive effects it can have towards the self-esteem and spiritual values of the recipients of help: these factors are far from irrelevant to the ability for the indigenous populations to look after themselves, as clearly demonstrated by British and European colonialism in places like India, the Americas, Africa and Australia.

You will find it is far cheaper to burn the O2 out of air than to get it from the steel mills.

The steel mills are setup to capture the volume of pure N2 they require internally - the remainder of the N2 is still polluted with O2. You would have to transport it as a gas by tanker - not at all effective.

N2 generators are common for any CA (controlled atmosphere) storage for fruits around the world.

but as i read the optimum temp. for storage of wheat is around 4'C, a good refrigeration system is important from this point of view.

Thanks for Comment

Yes, that sounds right.

But. How important is that datum? There is no sense in reinventing the wheel. And real life considerations intrude any which way.

Dried and properly sequestered grain lasts for a long time. If not, spoilage can be 10s of % to total loss.

Cooled and not dried grain is silage at best, and if fungus invades, it is rotten.

It seems, you have your mind set on high tech solutions. But, a long conversation with some farmers may enlighten you. What they need, want, and could use.

For pure academic use, iust do it, and forget about real life.

The OP seems to want to get government funding to start a big thing - which is not going to happen.

Be practical and you might get somewhere.

Can't ask the farmer what they want as most would be illiterate - sign by making their mark. They have no idea.

Sir, I am not against your opinion but sometimes an individual can do wonders, History proved it many times, future will again prove it.

As far as farmers are concerned :

I have an idea, in india there are small farms not big ones like those you are having in your country,

So, if in between 4-5 farms, if we can provide a cheap storage facality. So, they can sell thier good directly in market & they wont have to sell thier goods to some other mediator,

Rise in cost and wastage of goods results due to this fact only, the mediator passes it to the third person, third to the 4th and so they all add their own margins/incentives in between,

If one can stop this, then he can eventually control inflation,

Sir, i would like to bring in your notice that my motive is not to get fund from government or something like that, Its an initiative....I need only guidance. Nothing else.

I am aware of ignorance by government, but individual participation do contribute to national growth,

I hope you got my point.

You dont refigerate grain. You dry grain.

You also have to keep it moving through screens to keep out rhodents. This technology is mature already.

Starvation and hunger is not a techological problem. It is a political problem, with a political solution.

If you have lived in India you would know this to be a 100% true statement that fits perfectly.

But this technology costs to much for the poor farmers, & Drying consumes a lot of energy too.

Is there some energy efficient and cheap method of Drying?

Regards.

Pjcheme.

Thanks leveles for your valueable comment, i'll start working on it.

If you ae wanting to improve grain storage at "on farm" level, then there are some VERY SIMPLE things that can be done.

My father had a farm and we produced around 2500T of grain per year. We manufactured "portable" grain silo's with around 25T capacity that were vermin proof and maintained the dry condition of the grain.

They were made of readily available material, (normal pipe and flat iron and "weldmesh/hessian" walls.) shaped by one person using the fork of a tree and stick welded together.

We normally used these for paddock bins (day only storage while we waited for trucks to arrive) but also used some for seed storage between seasons. They had no foundations.

If you are interested in details, then please reply and I'll put together a sketch for the forum. Larger farms used "bunkers" that were lined with tarpaulin, but that requires vermin protection. Our mini silos were raised from the ground on all metal frames (the pipes) and so the rats and mice could not enter. A simple cover on top kept the birds out.

Yes, i am interested in details.

Thanks in advance

Pjcheme

So very sorry for taking so long to get back into this.

I have been away from "computer world" for a couple of weeks rest, but had the opportunity to get some pictures for you.

There is a bottom ring made by joining two 6m lengths of pipe (>3mm wall section, >35mm diameter) that have been bent to form half circles.

The struts connect to another ring (hidden behind the flat bar) that was formed in the same way.

The floor is simply made with flat iron, cut and lap welded in place.

The mesh top is using "weldmesh" that is available is Australia, but concrete reinforcement mesh should also be OK. Two 6m lengths joined end to end make the top section.

CAUTION: Put the horizontal wires in the mesh on the OUTSIDE so they are in tension and hold the vertical wires inside.

A simple lining with hessian sheeting keeps the grain inside.

NOTES:

Fill evenly from the middle, the mesh needs to have balanced load or the sides will collapse.

Empty evenly from the middle (Bottom of the cone) to avoid collapse.

This one has around 25 Ton capacity when peaked.

A smaller one using a single 6m circle and a single length of mesh will hold around 9T, but they need to be properly balanced.

As always, great care needs to be exercised when handling bulk grain. People can get smothered and there is significant forces at play in these types of structures.

I am very Grateful to you for your valuable suggestions, i'll definately work on it & will send you the feed back..