Pantnagar Journal of Research

Abstract

Cold storage of post-harvest produce is the major requirement in agriculture processing component in the food supply chain. Cold storage systems can be a way which can provide such places to save the periodic production and it can increase the shelf life of the produce. The cold storage systems are designed to enhance the shelf life of agricultural produce and reduce the post-harvest losses while maintaining the optimum storage temperature. The modern cold storage units regulate the temperature and humidity using a variety of technologies. The use of solar energy in cold storage can be advantageous for small and marginal farmers of our country. To provide diversity of agricultural produce over a long season, small and marginal farmers need to use energy efficient cold storage techniques to reduce costs and extend the revenue period other than maintaining product quality and freshness. To overcome post-harvest storage crises of the produce of the farmer, the cold storage should be feasibly designed with optimum capacity beneficial for large access by the small holding farmers. It can be a boon to enhance quality of farm commodities as well as farmers’ income. This paper entails the review of earlier developed cold storage systems used for preservation of agricultural commodities.