Plans to the Haryana-UK Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Crop Post-Harvest Management & Cold-Chain (CoE-SPMCC) Centre of Excellence got a shot in the arm after the University of Birmingham Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) Professor Robin Mason joined Dr. Raja Sekhar Vundru, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana, Department of Agriculture, in Chandigarh, to sign an MoU ahead of the build phase of CoE-SPMCC. Haryana Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini presided the brief MoU signing ceremony on Feb 18 and Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana remained present during the event. The CoE-SPMCC will create a comprehensive national framework focused on sustainable Post-Harvest Management (PHM) practices.
The State Government has earmarked around 15 acres of land adjoining the Directorate of Horticulture, Haryana in Sector-21, Panchkula, to build CoE-SPMCC, which will include a training centre, technology demonstration area, testing centre, and technology incubation centre.
Funded by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), University of Birmingham experts are leading a consortium of UK and international universities providing technical assistance to help develop the Centre. The consortium includes Heriot-Watt University, Cranfield University and London South Bank University.
Dr. Raja Sekhar Vundru, IAS, said: “Haryana is in forefront of demonstrating horticulture technologies and established 12 Centres so far and this new Centre shall fill much needed gap in cold chain in horticultural commodities not only in Haryana but India as well.”
The Centre will develop a comprehensive national framework focused on sustainable cold-chain and PHM practices, guidelines, and protocols – aiming to curb horticultural produce wastage and assess present and future needs for a sustainable cold-chain by:
- Delivering innovative research and cold-chain design, including energy transition;
- Developing successful business models;
- Incubating tech start-ups and supporting the development of cold chain;
- Demonstrating the best available technology; and
- Raising awareness of sustainable PHM among different stakeholders including Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
Professor Robin Mason commented: “Our consortium unites a wealth of expertise from various partners, each contributing a unique set of skills and knowledge and forming a robust, interdisciplinary team poised to address the challenges ahead. We commend the Haryana State Government, Defra and UNEP for having the vision to invest in this ground-breaking research and development facility.” Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini commented: “Haryana is the food bowl of India and now fast diversifying into fresh fruits and vegetables which necessitates management of cold chain to reduce post-harvest losses in this sector.”
According to Dr. Arjun Singh Saini, 15 horticultural commodities will be chosen to develop protocols and to build complete cold chain models with comprehensive hands-on training on technologies in collaboration with academic and industry stakeholders.
“The Centre will be a key link connecting the agricultural, academic and business communities in Haryana and beyond. It will help to accelerate and deliver practical solutions to the ‘wicked’ challenges facing farmers across India.”
