Madhya Pradesh to adopt Dutch storage technology

To enhance the storage life of vegetable products, especially of onions and potatoes, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to make changes in the cold-storages here by taking help of the technical know-how available in Holland.

"Holland's expertise in the field of storing vegetable products, like onions and potatoes, is remarkable and we will also emulate it in Madhya Pradesh to enhance the longevity of such items,"state Agriculture minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria told PTI following a visit to Holland recently.

The technology adopted by them in the construction of cold storages is remarkable and consumes less energy, approximately one-third, compared to the cold storages in India, he said.

"The temperature in the cold storages there also varies according to the vegetables, but back here, same temperature is maintained all along, resulting in huge energy consumption by such storages,"the minister said.

"The onions stored in the cold storages in Holland remained healthy for almost eight-nine months, which is remarkable by any standards,"the minister said.

According to him, Holland used to export quality potato seeds to nearly 70 per cent of the world despite being a small country in terms of area.

To provide training in this field, the state would send students of agriculture to Holland to learn the necessary skills and technical knowhow, the minister added.