Agricultural post-harvest sustainability through the development of low-cost zero energy cooling chamber (ZECC) for smallholder farmers

Author

Nkomo, Malvin

Title

Agricultural post-harvest sustainability through the development of low-cost zero energy cooling chamber (ZECC) for smallholder farmers

Abstract

Many low- and middle-income nations, like Zimbabwe, struggle with food security because of substantial post-harvest losses and a lack of sustainable farming techniques. One of the most economic obstacles facing Zimbabwe's marginal farmers, who have very little capital, is postharvest losses. Highly perishable goods, like tomatoes, are more likely to deteriorate and spoil, particularly while they are in the supply chain. Because of this, they require quick refrigeration following harvest in order to slow down metabolic processes and preserve quality, which will help with supply to the fresh product market. A primary cause of post-harvest losses during storage, particularly for small-scale and informal sectors, is inadequate storage facilities. In addition, excessive crop exposure to sunshine, inadequate packing, subpar transport containers, insect pest infestation, and microbiological assaults all contribute to these losses. Postharvest losses have an impact on the expansion of the unorganized fruit and vegetable industries as well as income creation. Finding post-harvest losses to average between 20% and 50% in the time between harvesting and final merchandising is not particularly unexpected. This equates to a massive waste of labor, fertilizer, water, energy, land, seeds, and other planting supplies. Thus, it becomes necessary to develop a less expensive alternative, known as the Zero Energy Cooling Chamber (ZECC), which makes use of widely accessible and reasonably priced building supplies including water, bricks, straw, sand, and bamboo cement. As the bricks are put flat to create a basis, a raised area will be ready. There will be two brick walls built; the first will be 1.65 meters long by 1.15 meters wide by 0.67 meters high. There will be a gap between the brick walls that is nearly four fingers wide. Sand that is nearly soaked with water will fill the cavity. The chamber will be covered by a 1.65 x 1.15 m bamboo or straw hood that has been matted. Very environmentally friendly, the ZECC is very eco-friendly and it uses the principle of evaporative cooling to increase shelf life. Perishable goods can be stored using the evaporative cooling method, and fresh agricultural commodities can be temporarily stored on farms using ZECC. Fruits and vegetables can also be pre-cooled using ZECC before being transported. Temperature and relative humidity in the storage chamber have a significant impact on the ripening process of fruits and the quality of the final product, thus they must be maintained at acceptable levels. Under both ambient and regulated circumstances, tomatoes and leaf vegetables were used to assess the cooler's efficacy and performance. Based on the results, the chamber was able to maintain a greater humidity level and reduce the interior temperature, which greatly extended the agricultural produce's shelf life. Smallholder farmers may use this technology to boost profits in the unofficial sector.

Date

June 2024

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Post-harvest losses

Profitability

Quality

Vegetables, fruits.

Supervisor

Engineer Gongora, Ever