Piloting Evaporative Cooling Technologies in Western India

To pilot evaporative cooling technologies in Western India to improve vegetable shelf life and farmer incomes

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Objective: 

  • To pilot evaporative cooling technologies in Western India to improve vegetable shelf life and farmer incomes, in collaboration with Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiative (CInI - An Initiative of the Tata Trust) and with support from the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT.

https://jwafs.mit.edu/about

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Evaporative Cooling Technologies Overview:

  • Utilize evaporative cooling principle to preserve vegetables longer in hot and dry climates like Gujarat, India, during the harvest season (February to June).
  • Employ brick evaporative cooling chambers (ECCs) capable of storing 400 kg of fruits and vegetables, strategically built in Dahod and Mahisagar districts

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ABOUT 

Implementation Process: 

  • Conducted scoping study in May 2018, identifying the need for evaporative coolers in Gujarat.
  • Collaborated with CInI to select pilot locations and build ECCs in Mandavav, Goriya (Dahod), and Santrampur (Mahisagar).
  • Constructed ECCs with double wall brick layers, sand-filled, with dimensions suitable for storing vegetables.



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Data Collection and Initial Observations:

  • Installed sensors to measure temperature and humidity inside/outside ECCs, ambient temperature, vegetable temperature, and sand moisture content.
  • Initial observations show an increase in vegetable shelf life from 2-3 days to 6-7 days for eggplant and fenugreek leaves.
  • CInI conducting observational studies to further evaluate vegetable shelf life improvements during the harvest season (February to May 2020).

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ABOUT 

Next Steps: 

  • Continued data collection and observational studies during the harvest season.
  • Publication of project findings , with potential opportunities for scaling the dissemination of evaporative cooling chambers based on pilot results.

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For more information, visit:

Contacts:

  • Anish Paul Antony, MIT D-Lab Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Eric Verploegen, MIT D-Lab Research Engineer, Evaporative Cooling Lead