India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. In spite of that, per capita availability of fruits and vegetables is quite low because of post harvest losses which account for about 25% to 30% of production. Besides, quality of a sizeable quantity of produce also deteriorates by the time it reaches the consumer. This is mainly because of perishable nature of the product which requires a cold chain arrangement to maintain the quality and extend the shelf-life if consumption is not meant immediately after harvest which is usually the case. In the absence of a cold storage and related cold chain facilities, the farmers are being forced to sell their produce immediately after harvest which results in glut situations and low price realization. Some times farmers do not even get their harvesting and transportation costs, leave alone the cost of production or profit!

As a result, the production is not getting stabilized and the farmers after burning fingers in one crop switch over to another crop in the subsequent year and the vicious cycle continues. Our farmers continue to remain poor even though they take risk of cultivating high value fruits and vegetable crops year after year. A cold storage facility accessible to them will go a long way in removing the risk of distress sale to ensure better returns.

India is an agricultural -based economy. More than 52 percent of India’s land is cultivable, compared to the global average of 11 percent. The estimated annual production of fruits and vegetables in the country is about 130 million tones. This accounts for 18% of our agricultural output. Due to diverse agro climatic conditions and better availability of seeds, scientific break-through, drip irrigation, fertilizers and scientific practices, the production is gradually rising. Although, there is a vast scope for increasing the production, the losses post harvest are just mind boggling and the lack of cold storage and cold chain facilities are becoming major bottlenecks in preservation of the produce which in turn adds to shortage of produce and hence adds to the ever rising inflation.
The cold storage facilities now available are mostly for a single commodity like potato, orange, apple, grapes, pomegranates, flowers, etc. which results in poor capacity utilization. Present availability of cold storage capacity is only 103.5 lakh tones, out of which units having about 8 lakh tones capacity are non functional. Although 75% of these units are made to store only potato even then it does not meet the requirement of the single crop, the production of which is about 300 lakh tones.

Lack of proper storage facilities has far reaching implication for the Indian economy. Not only it creates shortage of food supplies but sometimes the government may have to import and spent precious foreign exchange to make available vegetables and fruits available to the common people. Also, though we produce best quality fruits and vegetables, just the lack of storage makes us import the very fruits that we produce in good quality and in abundance.

The domestic market in India itself is large, and one must firstly satisfy this market with products that meet international quality standards. With increasing population and awareness towards healthy living, the demand for all types of vegetables and fruits will remain throughout the year. Food is the biggest expense for an urban Indian household. About 38.6% of the total consumption expenditure of households was spent on food in 2011-12.
Once we deliver high quality products and services within the domestic market, accessing the international market for exports should not pose a serious challenge. India is an agricultural country which will grow to its full potential in the coming years with the help of such services and no doubt that India will soon come to be recognized for quality products in the international market which in turn, will bring this industry to a position of true leadership.

Strategically, holistic development of integrated cold-chain holds the key for reducing post-harvest losses, ensuring uninterrupted supply and thereby minimizing food inflation.