By Sarita Brara
The state of Himachal Pradesh is considered as the fruit bowl of India, with the second highest apple production in the country. Birender Bashata, an orchardist from Shiladesh village in Himachal Pradesh says that ever since his solar-powered cold storage became operational in 2021, he has never had to resort to panic selling of his apple crop. He sells his produce only when he knows that he is fetching the right price for it at the market. Bashata can store up to 20 metric tonnes in his storage facility with his 20 kW rooftop solar system. Bashata, who is also the vice president of the Chhuara Apple Society, says that earlier, he had no option but to sell his crop even when the price was low, for fear of it perishing or getting damaged.
Anil Kumar Andhra, another orchardist from Chirgaon, has an 8 kW solar system for his cold storage. He says that in addition to storing his own crop, he gets Rs 1.80 per kg for renting out the storage facility to other farmers. Before the facility was constructed, he sometimes incurred losses for selling his produce immediately after harvesting at a low price. He remarks, “Since I can store my apple crop for five to six months, I take my crop to the market only when I am sure to get the right price for it.” The storage capacity of his cold storage is 400 crates, which comes to about 8 metric tonnes.
Bagh Singh and Sunny Mehta of the Inner Seraj Farmer Producer Company in Banjar also leased out their land for the installation of a solar-powered facility with 20 metric tonne capacity and two chambers for storage. After facing some battery-related issues and other teething problems, they have started using their solar-powered cold storage facilities.
All these solar-powered cold storages were constructed by GIZ, a German enterprise that supports sustainable development, in collaboration with Cool Crop Private Limited, on a demonstration-cum-trial basis. Apart from offering their land for the facility, the farmers did not have to pay anything for the construction of the solar-run cold storages.
A solar-powered modular cold storage unit was also constructed at the Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, in Nauni, earlier this month. Designed to support year-round, multi-crop storage based on crop compatibility, the facility has 12 metric tonne of storage capacity. It has three independent chambers and different crops can be stored at different temperature ranges as per the requirement. While solar energy is the main source, the facility has multiple power backup options. The facility, developed in collaboration with GIZ India’s AgSys Programme and commissioned by Cool Crops Private Limited, has a thermal backup extending for a few hours and battery backup of five to six hours. The option of grid connectivity has also been provided for usage during monsoon or low-sunlight conditions. Equipped with an AI-enabled remote data monitoring system, it will serve as a hub for scientific research and data generation on crop storage for further improving the system. The modular cold storage unit is also economically sustainable.
More recently, Energy Efficiency Services Limited developed its first solar-powered micro cold storage unit at the Progeny-cum-Demonstration Orchard in Bajaura in Kullu district of the state. The project has been funded by the Asian Development Bank. The standardised 5-10 metric tonne solar-powered unit is designed for off-grid and farm-level deployment. The units are equipped with 36-hour thermal backup for consistent cooling. The pilot project ensures consistent cooling even during outages, supporting both grid and solar power.
According to Davinder Singh Thakur, Project Director (SHIVA), Horticulture Department, the state government will assess the financial viability and the success of these demonstration-cum-trial projects to formulate future plans for setting up cold storages run by solar power. Farmers in the Himalayan region are entitled to 50 per cent subsidy, 55 per cent in the case of women, for setting up cold storages under the latest guidelines of the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, which support the use of solar-based technologies such as solar power cold storage.
In conclusion, to have a cold storage run on electricity from the grid alone is not financially viable for small and marginal farmers. This view is expressed by other farmers as well. At present, Himachal Pradesh has 0.1 million metric tonne capacity storage but these are run on traditional electricity. Net, net, solar-powered cold storage facilities can play a crucial part in reducing post-harvest losses, which is a major challenge in the hilly terrains of Himachal Pradesh.
