Home ›› 26 Feb 2022 ›› Editorial
Despite significant progress in our country’s agricultural, poultry, and dairy sectors, the output from these industries has been limited. The country is falling behind in terms of how agricultural produce may be stored and exported. As a result, seasonal raw vegetables, potatoes, milk, and other foods get spoiled due to a shortage of storage facilities.
Agricultural, poultry, and dairy products from all across the country are brought to Dhaka. Many of these products decay while being transported. Seasonal vegetables are abundantly produced. Frequently, even before one batch of vegetables is harvested and sold, another batch of vegetables is ready for harvesting. If vegetables are not preserved, they end up getting rotten or have to be sold at cheaper prices. The farmer suffers financial losses as a result of this. Many vegetables get spoiled due to a lack of proper transit and storage during a disaster, blockade, strike, or a circumstance such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This happens in our country from time to time. Farmers will benefit much from being able to store produce locally.
During a strike in 2014, farmers unable to send milk to Dhaka spilt it on the streets. Their vegetables were also ruined. The lockdown and stoppage of vehicular movements during the Covid-19 pandemic has harmed the agriculture and dairy businesses. A news agency published a report on a natural cold storage in Bhadra, Rajshahi, in 2016. According to the report, it was Bangladesh’s first natural cold storage facility. In a rectangle-shaped chamber 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, bricks were placed in a row on two sides of the floor, leaving a 3 inch gap in between. Sand was used to cover the gap. The roof of the chamber is made of glass, and sunshine enters through it. To illuminate the cold storage area, 110 water solar panels were installed. It was kept at a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius to store potatoes and garlic. The temperature was kept below 16 degrees for preserving fruits and vegetables.
The natural cold storage facility was developed at Rajshahi University under the direction of Professor Monjur Hossain, Director of the Biological Science Institute. He did this to get the word out to farmers about the benefits of natural cold storage without the need of power or electricity. It is estimated that 14 lakh taka was spent on this project. Potatoes, garlic, ginger, carrots, tomatoes, mangoes, and other fruits might be stored in this manner. In terms of preservation, potatoes, ginger, and garlic had the best outcomes. In the natural cold storage, potatoes and garlic lasted for four months. Without any preservatives or chemicals added, tomatoes, carrots, mangoes, and other fruits and green vegetables survived 3 to 6 months. The concept of preserving agricultural products using the vaporisation method started in this way, although the process was quite expensive.
The government’s agricultural marketing department has been offering technical and logistical assistance to farmers for the past three to four years in order to help them build this type of cold storage. They originally constructed this type of cold storage to store potatoes. But it was a lot less expensive and easier to construct than the Rajshahi one. They did claim, however, that learned the technological aspect from India.
Bangladesh is presently Asia’s third-largest producer of potatoes after China and India. The country produces nearly 1.1 crore tonnes of potatoes. However, there is insufficient cold storage to maintain them. And, despite the availability of cold storage units, not all farmers are able to store potatoes there. There are allegations that sometimes cold storage units do not maintain the right temperature due to which potatoes get decayed. That is why, in areas where there is a lot of potato production, the Agricultural Marketing Department is working on developing natural cold storage for potatoes. According to Shahnaz Begum Nina, deputy director (policies and plans) of the Agricultural Marketing Department, they have worked on the construction of 40 natural cold storages during the previous four years.
She stated that a fairly large placeis required for cold storage. The potatoes are stored on the floor of the specifically designed space, much like a shelf. However, rotting potatoes must also be spotted and removed since the potatoes next to a rotten potato also rot. The weight of the potatoes decreases significantly during cold storage, and the potatoes become slightly dry. However, there is no change in flavour. Potatoes may be preserved in this manner for four months. Farmers’ lamentation has subsided to a good degree as a result of this method of potato storage, as many farmers are typically unable to store potatoes in commercial cold storage units.
In general, cold storage unit authorities calculate how many potatoes a cold storage unit can hold based on its capacity and provide slips to farmers and company owners specifying how much of their produce can be stored. Many farmers do not receive this slip, and as a result, they find themselves in a terrible predicament with their potatoes, unable to keep them anywhere. Furthermore, because the expense of keeping potatoes in these commercial cold storage facilities is high, natural cold storage is a more cost-effective option for many farmers. There is no expense for energy in the construction of these natural cold storages, and other expenditures are much lower as well. Naturally, the farmers benefit from this.
Shahnaz Begum further said that 19,000 individuals from 11 coastal locations have been trained on how to store potatoes and use them in emergencies. Potatoes are dried in the sun. Then, in the event of a disaster, it can be tightly packed in an airtight box or thick polythene and buried under the ground. When the water recedes after a storm, they are collected and soaked in water for a short period of time after which the potatoes return to normal. These potatoes can be boiled, mixed with flour and baked into bread, sliced into pieces and cooked with rice, or eaten as is. Dried potatoes or veggies can be preserved in this manner for an extended period of time while maintaining food quality.
In South Korea, dry vegetables are quite popular. Following their example the government then came up with the idea of dry potatoes and is considering developing dry vegetables. This will preserve vegetables, which may then be exported.
In places where there is no electricity in India, people store vegetables in a “Zero Energy Cool Chamber” system.The government in Bangladesh has also been training farmers to preserve vegetables in this manner. The raining began in the previous fiscal year. In the current fiscal year, the government intends to construct 100 such cold storage facilities.
A tin shed is constructed above a cement-filled underground reservoir. Two rows of bricks are left on the floor with a three-inch gap between them, and sand is deposited there. The sand is watered twice a day to keep the area cool. On top, a bamboo or mat is placed. Plastic baskets with vegetables are placed on the bricks. In this way, 200 kg of vegetables can be kept in a cold storage, which stays good for ten to twelve days. Farmers have been trained to use this technology in places like Rangpur, Jashore, Khulna, Sathkhira, etc., where a lot of vegetables are produced. Seasonal fruits can also be preserved in this manner.
The government also plans to use Indian technologies to conserve onions and garlic. Natural cold storage units will be built in areas where onions and garlic are produced in large quantities so that they can be stored. In the coming fiscal year, the government intends to construct 300 such cold storage facilities. This form of cold storage can hold between 10 to 15 tonnes of onions. Natural cold storage aids in keeping the house cool by eliminating heat from the top through evaporation.
The government has explained to the farmers the technology and benefits of constructing such eco-friendly cold storage facilities. However there is a requirement of more of such initiatives. This activity needs to be spread across the country as soon as possible. This is because there are not many cold storage units locally for storing fruits and vegetables, and a lot of it goes to waste because farmers can’t sell it at a fair price in the local market due to its easy availability. As a result, they sell them at very low prices. Besides, vegetables can be kept in these cold storages for very short periods of time, which can solve the problem immediately. If these could be stored longer, both the farmer and the consumer would gain. The supply of goods would have continued to flow.
Such cold storages have not yet been set up to store milk, eggs, or dairy products. It is necessary to work urgently on the issue, both publicly and privately. If dry potatoes or vegetables could be stored properly, the country’s economy would become much more dynamic. Natural cold storage methods, as well as their benefits, need to be widely publicized in the media. District and upazila agriculture officers should spread awareness on the concept of natural cold storage to every corner of the country. In this way, the desired success in agriculture will follow automatically.
The writer is a columnist. She can be contacted at shanu.mostafiz@gmail.com
