Sep232021
Posted by:admin
Caspian Climate Conversations | Episode 4
Featuring Vishal Singhal, Founder- Temperate Technologies
Vishal Singhal is the founder of Temperate Technologies, an energy-efficient cooling technology company. Vishal has done his Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University where his research focused on cooling systems. At Temperate Technologies, they provide farmers with small decentralized environment-friendly cold rooms based on Indirect Evaporative Cooling technology. It is an energy-efficient technology that takes up to 80% less energy than traditional refrigeration-based solutions. The low energy consumption makes their cold rooms very suitable for off-grid installations using solar panels etc.
To tune into the recording, please use the available link here: https://on.mentza.com/circles/4171
Please find below a summarized transcript of this interesting conversation:
What does indirect evaporating cooling technology mean?
Evaporation is similar to boiling, except that it happens at a much lower temperature because the energy for this process comes from all around the water molecules which are evaporating. In Indirect Evaporative Cooling, the air is first cooled using secondary evaporation and then the water is evaporated. This process can achieve temperatures lower than direct evaporative cooling, very close to the dew point of the ambient temperature.
Caspian debt’s portfolio consists of organic products and farm to fork food companies. How can your solution help our portfolio companies?
Some background:
For most fresh fruits and vegetable supply chains in our country, the typical time between harvest and consumption is 3-4 days. However, there are certain crops that are highly perishable- like green leafy vegetables and spoil within a day. In the traditional supply chain, various value chain players like- farmer, farm-level aggregator, village-level aggregator, local mandi trader, wholesaler, and retailer- hold the crop for not more than a day, typically less than that. Within that small period, nobody sees much deterioration in quality and therefore nobody has an incentive to invest in improving the quality. Farm to fork companies however do hold the produce longer (3-4 days) and therefore, the cold chain becomes important.
Our solution:
Our technology can provide cold chain solutions at lower capital and operating cost. In India, where the produce sells in the range of INR 30-40 per kg, adding a few rupees to cooling can be a huge cost in terms of percentage, and therefore a cost-effective solution is essential.
It is interesting that none of the intermediaries in the supply chain hold the crop for more than a day and therefore have no incentive in investing to improve the quality. If a farmer holds the crop for a little longer and goes to a bigger market to sell, is he likely to get a better price for his produce?
If the farmer can hold the crop for 2-3 days, the following things are possible:
- Value addition – cleaning, sorting, grading packaging
- Reduce transportation costs- Combine produce for up to 3 days and reduce up to 2/3rd of transportation cost
- Opportune harvesting times- Currently, it needs to be few hours before going to the mandi
- Reverse logistics opportunities- Retailers and organizations can directly buy from farmers in these areas having cold chains and value additions activities.
All this has the potential to increase farmer’s income by reducing his costs and increasing the value realization from his sales.
Can you tell us a little bit about the progress you have made since you started developing the technology and the company?
We are taking a crop-specific approach to our installations:
- We have developed prototypes and setting pilot projects to test our concepts. One such installation is being done in the Vikarabad district near Hyderabad, which is for an FPO mostly for green leafy vegetables.
- We have also developed a solution for the onion crop. There is 4 months period during monsoon when onions are not harvested, but the demand exists throughout the season. So the rabi onion crop needs to be stored for this time to meet the demand. There are certain onion storage solutions already there but because of changing climate, slightly longer monsoons, the wastage of the stored crop has become much higher- (30% earlier vs 60% now).
Is the onion crop spoiled just because it has to be stored longer during the longer monsoon season or for other reasons?
Onion is a dry crop and requires a humidity range of 60-65%. During monsoons, the humidity goes upwards of 90 % and onions get spoiled. During longer monsoons, not only the stored crop but the new crop also gets spoiled, therefore higher wastage.
Based on the pilots that you are doing; can you elaborate on how your solutions can help small-holder farmers?
Taking an example of the onion crop:
Background:
Onion is stored by the farmers in temporary structures made out of bamboo. Onion storage has two competing requirements- dehumidification and aeration (aeration because onions emit CO2 and vapor while stored). If the crop is covered, dehumidification is achieved but aeration is blocked. If it is left open, there is aeration but also a lot of humidity.
Our solution:
We are trying to build structures for which we will rent out a service model for the farmers for which we are running a pilot in Pune. We will rent out the units by 10 MT to the farmers (It takes 1/3 acre to grow 10 MT crop). In addition to helping farmers store the crop, we are also providing them warehouse receipt financing, otherwise, farmers cannot hold the crop since they have cash flow issues.
We had recently talked with Enviu from East Africa about cold storage companies and market linkages. Do you think there is a need for that in India?
Market linkage is a real problem. There is enough demand in the country to ensure that the farmer receives a decent price for their produce but they do not have enough linkages with the market. Our direct focus is warehousing but it is indeed a way to solve the problem of market failure. There should be more integration of cold storage with market linkages.
Do you think your solution has an export market?
Our solution works really well in hot and dry conditions and therefore countries like Nigeria in Africa is a potential market for us.
