BARC’s pioneering storage technology to preserve onions for longer and control price increases
BARC has developed an innovative storage technology to extend the shelf life of onions and keep onion prices under control.
New Delhi: The Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) has developed a pioneering storage technology to help improve the shelf life of onions and other vegetables and thus help control the rise in prices during a supply, as seen earlier when the government had to distribute other vegetables. tomatoes at subsidized rates to counter the price increase.
According to an official press release from BARC, the innovative storage technology stores onions by processing them with radiation, which allows the basic material to be stored in a special cold storage for up to seven and a half months.
“BARC has developed integrated operating procedures for this process through research, development and commercial testing,” the release said.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), a division of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), has already achieved great success in maintaining adequate availability of onions throughout the year and reducing storage losses due to short shelf life, the report said.
The integrated working procedures developed by BARC, using radiation technology, ensure that onions can be stored in refrigerators for almost eight months. This ensures that the raw material is available all year round and the prices of both onions and other vegetables can be kept under control by ensuring sufficient availability.
Onions are only grown at a specific time of the year, causing onion farmers and resellers to face challenges such as reduced yields, rotting due to microorganism attack and germination. These factors lead to fluctuating onion prices, while farmers and traders always risk incurring losses if the crop goes bad during storage.
However, BARC’s pioneering technology prevents onions from sprouting and thus extends their shelf life by reducing spoilage.
“BARC’s innovative irradiation technology can help minimize post-harvest losses and ensure the availability of good quality onions all year round. This can also help keep onion prices under control. Farmers, farmer organizations and consumers can benefit from this on a large scale,” BARC said.
BARC has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, National Consumer Cooperative Federation of India and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, under which large-scale trials of onion preservation using irradiation technology with integrated cold storage are being conducted.
Recently, 1,000 tonnes of onions were processed at Lasalgaon, Nashik, using this technology, which was completely successful on every parameter, the BARC said, adding that the method proved to be an effective way of improving the quality and freshness of onions at a wide maintain scale. dish.
It says the Agricultural Produce Conservation Center (KRISHAK) in Lasalgaon has been specially upgraded to use this technology.
“It features a unique integrated onion-specific cold storage with a capacity of 250 tons, with a controlled humidity of 65%, which is able to maintain the good quality of the radiation-treated onions for a longer period. Recently, a Kisan Mela was organized here so that farmers could be informed about the benefits of radiation technology.”