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To improve the productivity of agri commodities and to strengthen rural farm infrastructure, the Dakshina Kannada-based NGO Shree Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) and the Bayer group have set up a cold storage unit at Hirenallur village in Kadur taluk of Chikmagalur district.
Dr L.H. Manjunath, Executive Director of SKDRDP, told Business Line that it is an effort by both SKDRDP and Bayer to promote cost-effective cold storage unit in a rural area.
Improving shelf life
“On an experimental basis, we have tried this in Kadur taluk. This unit increases the shelf life of tomatoes almost by 25 to 30 days,” he said. The 10-tonne capacity cold storage unit stores tomatoes grown by nearly 30 farmers in the village. The entire cold storage unit was built by local masons at a cost of around Rs 2 lakh, he said. Asked about the role of SKDRDP and Bayer in this project, Dr Manjunath said that SKDRDP brings the social component for the project and Bayer, the technology and funding for it.
New energy sources
Explaining this, he said there is a need to educate farmers to make use of the cold storage unit in an efficient way. SKDRDP helped in the selection of the village for the project and in selection and training of farmers. SKDRDP also provides the logistical support in this project. He said the surplus supply of vegetables and fruits in the market leads to collapse of prices of the commodities. Taking the problems related to quality power supply in rural areas into consideration, there are also plans to use alternative energy sources to charge the cold storage unit, he said.
Focus areas
Stating that Kadur project has been taken up on an experimental basis, Dr Manjunath said: “If it starts working, we have plans to start 25 such units with our own money in 2011-12. The main aim is to increase the shelf life of vegetables and fruits.” Asked about the probable locations, he said Shimoga and Chikmagalur districts will be the focus areas to begin with. SKDRDP operates in nine districts of Karnataka. They are: Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Kodagu.
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