Hello and welcome once again to Cooling India.
It is observed that around 20 to 30 per cent of the foods, with a big share of perishables, are lost due to poor handling, lack of processing, poor packing, inefficient storage, distribution, retail and transport including last mile delivery. Also, poor food logistics contributes to global warming significantly. Experts observed that, food waste could alone increase GHG emissions to 1.9-2.5 Gigatons by 2050 from 0.5 today, hence, affecting the climate change.
Thus, efficient food logistics can not only help in eliminating food insecurity, but also aid in fighting climate change. Further, cold chain is the best mode to preserve perishable food, enhance its life and availability over long periods of time. This time, we dive into how poor food logistics contributes to global warming. Our report also explains how efficient cold chain logistics can play a role in combating climate change.
Cold chain logistics is a vital link for the safe and hygienic handling of temperature-sensitive items such as agriculture produces, food items and pharmaceuticals products. Cold chain is a network of refrigerators, cold storages, freezers and cold boxes organised and maintained so that products are kept at the right temperature to remain fresh during the period of handling from factory to the point of use. However, in India, the cold chain network remains at a nascent stage.
Of late, the government has announced plans to tackle inefficient cold chain logistics and announced favourable government initiative such as subsidy schemes for setting up a cold storage facility and purchasing standalone reefer vehicles. Further, the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana, which is designed to create world-class supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet, will support the development of cold chain infrastructure. According to government estimate, the SAMPADA scheme alone is expected to leverage investment of Rs. 31,400 crore for handling of 334 lakh MT agroproduce valued at Rs. 1,04,125 crore.
Hope you enjoy reading this issue as always. Do send in your comments to me at pravita@charypublications.in.
Pravita Iyer
Publisher & Director
