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Plans to build a new Centre of Excellence that will help Indian farmers get more of their produce to market took a step forward with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Perishability, short marketable life, and the need to acquire advanced skills and best-in-class equipment - including cold-chain facilities – mean farmers face difficulty in both ensuring the safety and quality of marketable produce, as well as reducing quantity losses in the supply chain.

Backed by State of Haryana Government funding, the Haryana-UK Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Crop Post-Harvest Management & Cold-Chain (CoE-SPMCC) will create a comprehensive national framework focused on sustainable Post-Harvest Management (PHM) practices.

Haryana Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Nayab Singh Saini presided the brief MoU signing ceremony and Hon’ble Agriculture Minister Shri Shyam Singh Rana was present during the event. 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.

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.

Professor Robin Mason commented: “The University of Birmingham is proud to lead this international partnership helping to establish a facility that not only benefits Indian farmers, but also creates opportunities across the education, research and business communities.

“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.”

Food loss is significant to the State and directly impacts farmers, as horticultural produce serves as their primary source of income - every year some 156 million USD (Rs. 13 billion) income is lost to both farmers and the state.

Haryana Chief Minister Shri 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.”

Haryana Agriculture Minister, Shri Shyam Singh Rana said: “We are elated with the kind of support we are getting from the University of Birmingham and its consortium.”

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).

Consortium leader Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy at the University of Birmingham, commented: “Sustainable cold chains are critical infrastructure, vital for a well-functioning society and economy. They underpin access to safe and nutritious food and health, as well as the ability to drive economic growth, and deliver socioeconomic development.”

Head of Department, Dr. Arjun Singh Saini, commented that we are targeting 15 horticultural commodities to develop protocols and to built 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.”

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.

The consortium has led the Centre’s design and establishment, with the University of Birmingham leading on resilient systems of system approaches to energy and cooling, energy transitions & energy storage, and understanding the social impacts.

Heriot-Watt University specialised in virtual modelling, digital twin development, and roadmap creation. Cranfield University focussed on food cold-chain training, delivery programmes, and PHM.

The University of Birmingham and Wageningen University’s, Netherlands, expertise in business models contributed valuable insights. Belgium’s Vrije University provided climate modelling expertise, whilst London South Bank University added support on refrigeration and cold chain.

The project aligns with work in Africa which led to the opening of the Africa Centre for Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) last year. The University of Birmingham plays a leading role in ACES - developed with the Governments of UK and Rwanda, UN Environment Programme and University of Rwanda.