At a time when farmers across the State are grappling with unavailability of cold storage units to store their products, the ‘Subjee Coolers’, an innovative and alternative storage units for farmers would let them heave a sigh of relief.
Developed by Agrotech startup, RuKart Technologies, IIT, Bombay, the cooler will be implemented by the Bethany Society, which have been working with the integrated natural farming professionally for about seven years through the Meghalaya State Skill Society.
Bethany Society, Senior Programme Coordinator, Ricky N. Renthlei informed that the cooler will be inaugurated tomorrow.
Renthlei informed that the cooler is capable of storing vegetables and keeps them afresh for around eight days.
He said the Bethany Society had taken the responsibility to train almost 3000 farmers during the past and learnt about their difficulties and challenges. He said the idea of a vegetable cooler will help them reap proper benefits from their produce.
It may be mentioned that the new idea has brought smile in face of distress farmers across States such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha and it is hoped that farmers in Meghalaya too would no longer bear heavy losses from farm products in the absence of cooling facilities.
The ‘Subjee Cooler’ or vegetable cooler is a farm-based storage that keeps vegetables and flowers fresh for almost a week without using any energy. However, the cooler has to be watered once a day and it also acts as a natural ripening chamber.
This on-the-farm structure is built to work like a mud pot. The cooler that comes in various sizes is structured to have a temperature that is 5-20 degrees lower than the ambient temperature, while a high relative humidity of 90-95 per cent is maintained. This helps to preserve the agricultural produce for 4-6 days.
