India badly needs an energy-efficient cold chain to cover all, or at least most, parts of the country to make agriculture more remunerative and sustainable by maximising the return for the farmer, according to Vikram Murthy, the president of the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE).

He was speaking here on Friday on the occasion of the three-day meet of the society which began on Thursday. He said the challenge was "to build a cold chain without contributing to global warming and to that appropriate refrigerants and technologies have to be used. We as a society are assisting the Government in the endeavour."

He said the Union Government had drawn up a India cooling action plan to make refrigeration affordable and energy-efficient. "We organise an annual conference and exhibition - Refcold India - to educate the industry and other stake-holders about cold chain, industrial refrigeration and reefer transportation. Earlier this month it was held in Hyderabad and there was a great response from all. Next year it will be held in October at Greater Noida," he said.

He said the association also assists the Government in setting standards "we have developed one for indoor environment. "We also focus on skill development. All our chapters, including the Vizag one, are actively engaged in it."

Vishal Kapur, an expert on the technical committee of the society, said a weather data book was being prepared for 170 cities across the country as "it is badly needed for efficient refrigeration. We are also assisting some of the neighbouring countries in weather data preparation."

C. Subramaniam, former president, SPB Rangacharyulu and B. Madhu, local office-bearers, also spoke.

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