Author(s):

Dr. Karuna Kumari, Sanjeev Kumar and Gopal Krishna

Abstract: India ranks second in fruit and vegetable production in the world after China. Despite having such a huge production of eatables, India still fails to fulfill the daily food requirement of an average citizen. Also there is an immense loss in post production processing, with a huge difference between gross production and net availability. As per an estimate, 30-40% of the produced fruits and vegetables in the country are lost due to wastage and value destruction. Post harvest losses are very difficult to be curbed, but with the help of better techniques, these losses can be effectively minimized. Earthenware Cool Chamber (ECC) is an eco-friendly, non-toxic, less expensive and biodegradable pot which is made up of readily available materials. In this study, a double vessel ECC is designed to increase the shelf life of stored fruits and vegetables. Working on the principle of evaporation, a Pusa Zero Energy Cool Chamber (PZECC) can be effortlessly constructed anywhere with locally available materials. Evaporative cooling system not only lowers the air temperature surrounding the produce, but also increases the relative humidity of the air. The higher relative humidity retains the water content of post harvested sample. This helps prevent the drying of the products, therefore extending the shelf life of horticultural products. Evaporative cooling system is well suited in areas where temperature is high, humidity is low, and sparse air movement is available. The evaporative chambers are easy and efficient cooling systems that can reduce energy use by 70% and are less expensive to install, operate and maintain. It is economical and can store the fruits and vegetables for 7 to 9 days without any significant loss and is a blessing for the tribal-prone remote areas in Jamtara district of Jharkhand where electrical energy input is hardly available

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