Srinagar, Apr 4: It was a special event converging fruit growers from different parts of the Valley at one place. For a whole day there were valuable and immensely informative sessions with fruit growers enriching their information about new concepts the fruit industry has adopted in recent times.
 The seminar ‘Cold Chain Management and Advanced Fruit Care’ at SIDCO Electronic Complex, Rangreth on Sunday was organized by the FIL Industries Ltd, Rangreth.
 Senior executives of FIL and experts at the seminar made growers aware of the new concepts that have been adopted by the fruit industry.
 They were informed about the infrastructural, technical and technological benefits of the Controlled Atmospheric Stores (CAS) over the conventional cold storage practices.
 “The CAS enhances shelf life of the fruit three times more as compared to the conventional cold storages,” said General Manager FIL Industries, Basharat Ahmad.
 “While the shelf life of fruit in the normal cold store is two to three months, in CAS it is seven to eight months.”
 “The quality, firmness and crunchiness of fruits are retained in the stores for seven to eight months, during which there shall be no change at all in the fruit contents, and the fruit will absolutely be safe for consumption,” he said.
 He said in existing conventional cold stores, only temperature was controlled, whereas CAS controlled humidity and air composition as well, thus upholding the quality of the fruits.
 Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khuroo, manager warehousing division, FIL said the company was the first to introduce the CAS technology in India and was among top three companies in the country which has invested in the development of post-harvest management systems.
 “The CAS in the state had been set up by ICA, United Kingdom, the pioneers of CA stores, in collaboration with David Bishop, a noted name in the field,” he said.
 Khuroo said the CAS of FIL possessed a storage capacity of around 10,000 metric tons. “Ours is the largest store in J&K and our technology is on a par with the one used in controlled atmosphere stores internationally,” he said.
 He said the CAS —located at the centre of the Kashmir’s harvest hub— had an easy access to roads and air connections.
 He also dealt at length on advantages of a CAS over the existing conventional cold store. The former, he said, provided better preservation of the fruit colour and longer shelf life of the fruits and decreased ethylene production and sensibility and reduced decay sensibility. “This in-turn provides extended marketing season, better prices, greater volume of fruits and more distant markets,” he said.
 The fruit growers were also made aware of the packing and grading support facility. “Our grading line has a capacity to grade up to 12 metric tons of fruits per hour. It performs all from colour grading to size grading and weight grading,” said Khuroo. 
 Later the fruit growers were given a comprehensive demonstration of the CA facilities at FIL food processing complex in Rangreth so as to provide them with first-hand insight into the working of the facilities. The growers also interacted with the company officials and got their doubts cleared.
 Talking to Greater Kashmir, the fruit growers expressed contentment with the programme and hailed the FIL for bringing in CAS to Kashmir. “This is an excellent step taken by the FIL for the growers. There is a dire need of such stores in the Valley, for we are competing not only in the national market but internationally as well,” said Ghulam Muhammad Dar, president Fruit Growers and Dealers Association, Pulwama.
  “This technology will help fruit growers a great deal, for it help enhancing the shelf life of the fruits,” echoed Sheikh Abdul Rashid, a fruit grower from Pulwama.
 The growers said more of CAS should be made available in the Valley, “in order prevent losses growers incur due to damage in the fruit.”
 “Our fruits are usually ripe by September to November, however we have to wait till April for marketing, and till then our fruits get spoiled. So we need more of such stores,” said Rashid.
 Basharat said earlier in 2004 they had started a CA store on experiment basis with a storage capacity of around 2000 metric tons. “After the success of that store, we started another CAS in 2008 with more storage capacity,” he said.
 He said the FIL had three divisions, viz. consumer division that is 100 per cent export-oriented, food and beverages division for manufacturing ready-to-serve juices and warehousing division. “We realize the need to continuously innovate to operate successfully in the ever changing competitive global environment,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Apr 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 4 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 5 Apr 2010 00:00:00 IST