Development of Different Renewable Energy Based Cold Storage Units for Jammu and Kashmir State

Jammu and Kashmir is a horticultural based economy with most revenue coming from horticulture produce. The fruit growers of Kashmir are witnessing losses and exploitation, because of unavailability of cold storage units at source (i.e. on-farm). The inefficiency in the logistic system includes physical inadequacies and multiple handling of produce. Inadequate cold chains lead to high wastage and bunched-up supply. A majority of Kashmir's villages has an erratic power supply and in future too conventional electricity doesn't seem to be too useful for running cold storages in Kashmir. Hence there is a need for small cold storage facilities that are not dependent on the grid electricity and need to temporarily store the farm produce till market prices are more amenable to small farmers. Since J&K is blessed with perennial solar energy and a lot of surplus biomass resources, renewable energy based cold storage units can help meet this shortage using abundantly available renewable energy that is best suited for rural/ decentralized deployment. The present paper shows light on such renewable energy based technologies useful for J&K state which will be used to operate small, decentralized cold storage right at the village level which would also supply grid quality power to the village, thereby offering a holistic solution to some of the key problems of Jammu and Kashmir's horticulture industry and rural sustainable development.