Sabji
cooler save farmer’s to dump their vegetables due to distress sale;
Improves
bargaining powerand economic condition, in Bolangir.
===========================================
By
Sudhir Mishra/Bolangir
;6th May2021
It
is a common sight in rural areas to find farmers resorting to distress sale of
their vegetables at throwaway price ,to middleman unscrupulous traders and even
throwing of unsold vegetables due to lack of storage facility at home.
Vegetables
are perishable commodities and which need to be stored in a cold storage to
keep in good condition which is lacking in Bolangir district.A cold storage
construction requires huge investment, points out a local here.
But
now Mother Nature has a answer to the farmer’s woes and the natural Sabji
cooler,which donot require electricity , can store vegetables for five to six
days in its chamber and keep its fresh,is providing benefits to the farmers of
Muribahal in Bolangir
What is a Sabji Cooler?
It’s
a brick-and-mortar storage facility with a covering on top. It works on the
principle of evaporative cooling and does not require any utilities /
electricity except watering once in a day. The cooling
chamber temperature is lower than the ambient temperature by a margin of 5-15°C
(depending on ambient relative humidity) and maintains a high relative humidity
of above 85-90% inside the cooling chamber. The low temperature and high
humidity inside the chamber preserve the vegetable crop for five to eight days.
The storage capacity of one unit is 1 quintal, explain a civil society
member
Technical
Support
The
RuKart Technology and PRADANprovided all kinds of Technical as well as
Technological support. The RuKart Technology also provided awareness & capacity
building support and trained Producer’s group members on appropriate use of
cooling unit explain a civil society member
There
are 105 women farmers involved in the Subhadra Producer group (PG),under the scheme
for promotion of agriculture production under the Agricultural production
clusters(APC) of which 90 members are actively involved in vegetable
production.
These
members, in last year, selected Onion, Tomato, Chilli, Brinjal, Bitter gourd
(Vegetable crops) and Arhar, Ground Nut (Pulses) as winter crops and cultivated
in 84.2 acres. PG members sold a total 424.6 quintals of above mentioned products
through collective as well as outlet marketing. Last year, the group members
faced many challenges for marketing.
Due
to lockdown, many times they could not sell their products in the right time
nor could they store in any storage facility. Consequently, farmers with no
storage facilities were compelled to sell their crops at throwaway prices.
Therefore, as per the demand and need of Producer group members, one
cooling unit was installed in the village. Till today, 9 Producer group members
have been accessing the facility regularly since the day of installation, says
Bhajaram Sahu of Janamukti Anusthan
However
in this natural sabji cooler natural crop,which is grown inside the soil
like onion, Reddish, and some other crop cannot be stored.
===
Advantage
Earlier
they used to collect vegetables only once in a week, the day before the
weekly market and on an average20% of vegetables got wasted due to lack of
storage facility, especially during summer.
After
installation of Subjee Cooler they don’t wait for market day rather collect
their products in the right time i.e. twice in a week and store in the cooling
unit for 3-4 days. On the market day, they sell their fresh vegetables and get
good prices. Again, the unsold produces are stored in Subjee Cooler and sold on
next day either to middle-man or consumer directly, points out Bhajaram Sahu of
Jana Mukti Anusthan Bongomunda
“Now,
the markets are closed for Saturday & Sunday due to weekend lockdown, yet
we can collect our vegetables on time, store in Sabjee Cooler and sell on
Monday. It would help us to reduce loss from farm to market during the lockdown
period and consequently increase our income. Because of the fresh contain of
our vegetables we can sell in 20-30% higher price than others, says another
group member.
Earlier
we were facing loss in the vegetable business. After the installation of Sabji
cooler we were able sell our produce in the market without any
worry and we thank the district collector and others for this support,says Mamata
Rana, a member of the producer group.
District
Collector of Bolangir Sri Chanchal Rana, inaugurated one cooling unit of Maa
Sarala PG of Bramhni village in Muribahal block two months ago on 25th February
2021
“The
sabji cooler is a eco friendly, non electricity based cooling system which
increases the shelf life of vegetables and fruits by a few days so that they
remain marketable’ says District Collector Chanchal Rana .
“Taken
up on a pilot basis by 10 GP level SHG federation, and funded out of the
District mineral fund, it also involves financial contribution of the members
as well. It has been taken up in APC (Agriculture production Clusters) areas
and has shown very good results. Farmers now have the flexibility to store and
sell in the market as per price conditions and not undergo distress sale. More
groups will be sent on exposure visits to these areas and then it will be
replicated across the district,” Rana says further.
