KTR opens Centre of Excellence to support farmers, preserve farm produce

The initiative for promoting sustainable cooling innovation and accelerating the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains was a first in the country, KTR said

In a bid to promote food and health security, support farmers, and boost exports, Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) opened the Telangana Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain, Telangana Today (TT) reported.

Speaking about the facility, the minister said that the initiative for promoting sustainable cooling innovation and accelerating the deployment of energy-efficient refrigeration for food and vaccine supply chains across India was the first initiative in the country. The facility is set up at the GMR Innovex Campus near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, the report said.

The report cited the minister as saying, "It will have state-of-the-art equipment and will serve as a one-stop solution to address all challenges around the cold chain ecosystem in the country. It will develop and demonstrate cooling technologies and solutions that meet the state's needs and could be scaled up with global reach."

 

KTR expressed his gratitude and thanked the University of Birmingham for choosing Hyderabad and industry partners like Carrier for their contributions towards the initiative.

The Centre of Excellence has been developed keeping the needs of the farmers in the state in mind. The facility will have a solutions development lab and demonstration centre along with a model pack-house and community cooling hubs, the TT report said.

As things stand, many farmers in the state do not have arrangements to sell their perishable harvest since they do not have access to cold storage facilities.

The Centre has been designed with the mandate to come up with solutions that will help farmers preserve their perishable produce along with improving the quality of goods, the report cited a government official as saying.

In the wake of the upcoming assembly elections, the Telangana government is expected to announce and distribute a series of welfare schemes for the state. News reports have said that CM KCR will begin his state tour to personally distribute the benefits of these schemes across the state's districts.