Development & Optimisation of Fresh Produce Supply Chain and Storage Systems.

作为一家主要经营易腐水果和蔬菜的农业食品企业，Sangha制冷在印度的其他新鲜农产品企业中目前面临着高浪费水平和重大运营挑战。该项目涉及印度合作伙伴Sangha创新中心、旁遮普农业大学（PAU）和创新与应用生物加工中心（CIAB），以及英国合作伙伴林肯大学（国家食品制造中心）、Coveris Flexibles英国有限公司、FRPERC（食品制冷与加工工程研究中心）和ECH工程有限公司，共同开发和优化印度的新鲜农产品供应链和相关储存过程。项目活动将包括审查、研究和发展小型（小农和社区用10吨单位）和大型新鲜农产品冷藏设施，包括土豆和其他水果和蔬菜。我们还将开发高度新颖的大容量存储控制系统和新一代包装材料，以控制农产品存储过程中的湿度和气体水平，这些材料是可生物降解的，适合热带气候和印度农产品供应链的其他挑战。该项目在印度的收益将包括帮助小农改善生活条件，防止作物迅速贬值，使他们能够将农产品保存足够长的时间，以便向更高价值的市场销售。目前一些质量足够的新鲜农产品只能用作动物饲料，由于这个项目，将保持足够高的质量供人类消费，增加营养丰富、高效生产的新鲜农产品的供应。这些好处将通过以低成本、节能的方式引入温度控制来实现，并与价格合理的功能性包装相结合，其中一些包装有可能由粮食作物的不可食用的废弃部分制造。这些包装将是家庭可堆肥的，有助于解决印度已经存在的巨大塑料废物挑战。

As a major agri-food business operating in perishable fruits and vegetables the Sangha Refrigeration amongst other fresh produce businesses in India are currently facing high wastage levels and major operational challenges. This project involves Indian Partners Sangha Innovation Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Center for Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) and UK partners the University of Lincoln (National Centre for Food Manufacturing), Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd, FRPERC (Food Refrigeration & Process Engineering Research Centre) and ECH Engineering Ltd, working together to develop and optimize the fresh produce supply chain and related storage processes in India. Project activities will include the review, research and development of small (10 tonne units for small farmers and communities) and large scale cold-storage facilities for fresh produce including potatoes and other fruit and vegetables. We will also develop highly novel large volume storage control systems and a new generation of packaging materials to control moisture and gas levels during produce storage, which are biodegradable and suitable for a tropical climate and other challenges of the Indian produce supply chain. Project benefits in India will include helping small farmers to improve their living conditions by preventing rapid value loss in their crops, allowing them to keep produce long enough to sell into higher-value markets. Some fresh produce currently of sufficient quality only for use as animal feed, will as a result of this project, maintain high enough quality for human consumption, increasing availability of nutritious, efficiently produced fresh produce. These benefits will be achieved through introducing temperature control in a low-cost, energy efficient way, working in conjunction with affordable, functional packaging, some of which has the potential to be manufactured from inedible waste portions of food crops. The packaging will be home-compostable, helping to address what is already a large plastic waste challenge in India.