INTERVIEW
Efficiently Fresh
“Cold chain has to be looked upon afresh, as a mode that extends the
selling range of the produce, and thus expands the farmers’ market
footprint. Efficient agri-logistics enhances market linkage and justifies
efforts to produce more and brings overall growth to agriculture,” asserts
Pawanexh Kohli, Chief Executive and Advisor, National Centre for Cold-chain
Development (NCCD).
Your views on the
transformation of the agriculture
sector in India…
As the country develops and its
citizens become more affluent and
health aware, we are witnessing a shift
in food preferences. Demand is no
longer about carbohydrates & calories,
but incorporates proteins, minerals
and micro-nutrients. The shift in
consumer orientation is effectively the
prime driver in shaping an associated
transformation of the agricultural
sector. Many of these opportunities can
only be tapped with required systemic
and policy changes. These, however,
need to be calibrated to suit the type of
produce in demand and to empower the
farmers to supply such demand. From
the supply chain managers’ perspective,
the systemic changes must cater to the
requirements that are specific to the
varied kind of produce that needs to be
handled.
Pre- and post-independence,
when focus was on cotton and
grains, agri-markets were termed
as assembly points, or zones where
farmers would aggregate with their
farm outputs, so that the flow of trade
was monitored, regulated and taxed.
However, today’s farming eco-system
generates surpluses, and while other
markets have been liberalised, restrictive
regulations have remained in case of
famers’ markets. Under this system, the
farmers are expected to monetise their
produce at a near farm mandi, which
has area demarcated market jurisdiction.
This market architecture essentially
delinked the farmers from the best
supplychaintribe.com
possible valuation, which typically is
seen at terminal destination. This is like
forcing all factories to sell at factory-
gate, instead of being allowed direct
consumer access.
The transformation of agricultural
economy calls for evolving a new
market architecture, one that endows
the farmers with the tools to physically
communicate their produce, in their
name, to transact at terminal markets.
The forward connectivity will also
require logistics infrastructure in the
form of first mile aggregation hubs,
co-located to villages. These would
primarily bring immediate and gainful
organisation in the post-production
supply chain.
But can farmers manage this
themselves?
The physical connectivity can be
provided as a service, against
revenue sharing or other service
level agreements with farmers. It is
a misnomer to imagine that farmers
would manage the entire logistics chain
which can run across geographies.
However, farmers will intrinsically be the
key beneficiaries from such services. If
you can courier a parcel to any location
in the country today, why cannot a
group of small farmers use services
to dispatch their produce to a market
location of choice?
Yes, to do so, the farmers will have
to collaborate and generate sufficient
load at source, so that their production
can be transported by most viable
mode. To do this, an aggregation
hub is required at village level, or one
CELERITY September - October 2019
that covers a few villages. These hubs
will also create employment for the
rural communities, in jobs that are
inherently linked to the core activity
of farming. Such aggregation hubs or
pack-houses will set off a virtuous
cycle of economic growth. Without such
back-end organisation, the agricultural
eco-system will continue to face chaotic
development.
Is it not easy for a farmer to
vertically integrate with a food
processing factory?
Sure, vertical integration with any agro-
processor is an easy option. And this is
typical and already happening. However,
their growth is not linked to their
immediate effort, but on the growth
of the factory they are vertically linked
with. The only option is to expand their
consumer from one nearby factory,
into multiple factories and this again
will require back-end aggregation of
produce, in enough volumes to supply
to far-away demand.
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INTERVIEW

In case of high-value foods, such the marketable life span of whole How does cold chain system
as fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat items, produce, it also brings organisation maintain the safety and quality
the Indian market is predominantly and standardisation to post harvest of produce at the desired level?
fresh. Here, the producers also could food handling. This ensures that fresh Palletization of a load facilitates
horizontally integrate, with multiple produce is packaged and preconditioned safe multi-modal handling, whilst
markets of choice. Especially as here, to withstand road stress or damage, transporting and when in cold stores.
the markets have a more rapid, near promotes modern material handling Pallet handling is best done by
daily, selling cycle. For example, a practices, provides relief from damage mechanized means, which ensures
farmer group in Bihar, should be able to due to uncontrolled exposure and quick & easy operations, reducing the
precondition and connect their litchi to safety from external diseases. All of this loss that occurs due to mishandling.
terminal markets of Delhi, Mumbai or allows for a larger quantum of farmers’ Cold stores are preferred when they
Chennai, of their own volition. Hence, produce to reach consumers, thereby are equipped to handle pallet-based
their growth is not limited to the mitigating food loss. Key to reducing cargoes, i.e. forklift types, roll-on/roll-
growth of the industry that they supply food loss is holistic development of off ramps, pallet based put away racks,
into, but by the scope of how they agri-logistics to connect more food etc.
expand their market. with more consumers, be it fresh At the last mile, retail shops also
or processed. All other aspects are need strengthening to handle cold
Food wastage has been one of secondary. chain routed fresh produce. In all,
the biggest challenges that the the complete chain enhances the
industry needs to circumvent.
How can we resolve the issue?
Mere presence of cold chain
infrastructure does not stop food loss.
Food loss occurs primarily because food
or food product is not connected to
consumption before is perishes. In case
of fresh produce, this can happen when
the time to reach market is beyond the
marketable life of the food item. Most
fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, meat do
not have a long saleable life in normal
conditions. They either should be
harvested on demand (as usually in case
of meat) and/or have to be sold quickly.
Unless, the selling cycle falls within
their natural saleable life, cold chain
intervention is required, especially when
markets are concentrated across longer
time-distance spans.
The cold chain not only extends

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produces’ usable life, retards loss of
freshness, sustains nutritional value
to the maximum and contributes
enormously by extending the value
chain system beyond traditional regions
and limitations. The most phenomenal
gain is drastic reduction in physical
loss, through organised practices, when
compared to the traditional multi-
layered logistics chain.
How can marketing enhance the
reach of perishable food?
An effective marketing and logistics
network require developing an efficient
link between an Origin (farm-source)
with Destination (consumer-market)
- ‘OD pair’. Lack of modern pack-
houses at points of origin, deflected
the existing refrigerated transport and
cold storage distribution hubs into the
limited role of aiding the marketing of
certain processed foods and the fresh
imports arriving in the cold chain.
A common example of efficient
source level aggregation is the milk
pooling or collection point. This is the
first step to value-realization though
a chain of market linking logistical
activities. Post-production activities
that safeguard the value of the harvest
and deliver the maximum quantity of
produce to end-consumers without
degradation of quality, would have a
positive trickledown effect on farmers’
supplychaintribe.com
income.
An effective agri-logistics
infrastructure network design is
required for perishable produce, at
first instance needing source points, as
pack-houses to serve as aggregation
or pre-conditioning centres, normally
developed at village or farm-gate level,
to organize an effective farm-to-fork
supply system. However, the planning
approach should follow an inverse flow
from fork-to-farm.
Please highlight the Inverse
Approach “From Fork-to-Farm”.
To function in agri-business mode,
there is need to adapt to demand
triggered supply chains. The farm-
to-fork connectivity tends to infer,
that farmers or a producer will directly
interact with the consumer. Adopting
an inverse, FORK-to-FARM strategy,
means to work out the demand from
wholesale destination market, and
accordingly work backwards to assess
the requirement for distribution space,
transport, aggregation at origin and
where possible even harvesting and
sowing. A well-designed strategy
will plan to capture new markets so
that subsequent ramping up of the
production can be monetised optimally.
Effectively, there is need to work
backwards from demand, providing
information that can intelligently direct
CELERITY September - October 2019
INTERVIEW
the physical flow of foods to linked
markets. The immediate concern is
to connect the produce with as many
markets as possible and the business
model requires linking the source
backward from the target markets
to plan and organize a delivery or
settlement mechanism after farm-gate
procurement. Fork-to-farm strategy
means that agriculture, like most other
business enterprises is developed with
sufficient agility to respond proactively
to market demand and associated
logistics.
What technologies are used in
cold chain?
Technology in cold chain is primarily
used to manage activities across
the product’s life cycle, most being
common to dry warehousing, such as
management systems for warehousing,
fleet, energy efficiency, tracking
and tracing, asset upkeep, trade
processes, etc. These include FEFO
(first expire-first out) based inventory
management viz FIFO or LIFO. The
holding environment is also managed at
a more precise scale since temperature,
humidity, and at times atmospheric
parameters (oxygen and other gases)
are critical to safe custody. Energy
load being higher than conventional
warehousing, its use and leakage is also
closely monitored.
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INTERVIEW
Since a breach in the cold chain can
impact the integrity of the good under
care, monitoring can range from simple
data loggers to thermo-chromatic
labelling. Besides, cold chain deploys
more stringent monitoring of its core
technologies, ie., refrigeration, insulation
and product packaging. Packaging
can range from vacuum-sealed packs
to breathable polymers to ventilated
cartons. Since fresh produce is liable
to external microbial and biological
contamination, technologies like
ozoning of closed spaces, fumigation,
hypochlorite or vapour washes, etc.,
play an important role. Photocatalytic
air recycling is also a technology that
can be used to destroy microbes in cold
rooms.
Industrial refrigeration technology
itself is undergoing changes. Today,
cooling systems include vapour
absorption, vapour adsorption, peltier
based; refrigerants are changing to
more environmentally friendly gases.
Essentially, cold chain from its birthing
has been about efficient management
of the goods under care, staying
dynamic enough to counter time
distance matrices and maximizing on its
inputs.
Can energy requirements for
cold chains reduce using superior
technology?
All technology-based applications can
help reduce energy load in the cold
chain. At first step, the insulation is an
important barrier to heat load. Secondly,
the type of refrigeration can reduce
energy load. Technology that hastens
operations and minimize breaches in
thermal integrity like dock shelters also
reduce energy consumption. Similarly,
36  CELERITY  September - October 2019
various thermal barriers, automation
and efficient facility designs also reduce
energy requirement.
On the other hand, alternate energy
sources cannot reduce the energy
requirement. Usually dual energy
sources are used for cold stores and
diesel-based systems for periodic
and/or transport based systems. At
the moment, systems that deploy or
hybridise with solar thermal, solar photo
voltaic, geothermal energy, along with
grid and generator-based electricity
serve as energy sources. Capturing of
stranded cold, such as during re-
gasification of liquid natural gas (LNG),
is another opportunity being explored.
How can companies unlock the
potential of investment through
structured cold chain implementation
from harvest to retail?
In case of food grains and similar
commodities, a modern warehouse
is a safe supply point for onwards
distribution to points of consumption
(food processors, consumers). Since
this raw produce is amenable to bulk
storage, the lots are stored in bulk
format (silos, etc.). The infrastructure
in the form of transport and storage
for food grains is well recognized and
future development is to modernize
and follow advancements in storage
technology. The required capacities
may be reassessed, incorporating stock
liquidation cycles.
Modernization of warehousing is
needed to extend the holding life of
the food grain inventory. This extended
inventory holding period, needs to be
fruitfully utilised, or else the stock will
still perish at the end of holding period.
Along with infrastructure modernisation,
efficient stock rotation into markets /
distribution system has to be upgraded
to ensure that the investment in
modernisation has a gainful outcome.
How can we modernize
Infrastructure for Agri-logistics?
With rapid technological developments,
there is need to modernize our
basic post-production infrastructure,
especially those infrastructure
components that help safeguard value
(warehouses and cold chain) and
provide an opportunity to spread the
supply to suit the demand. The same
would also apply to infrastructure
that helps to recover value from the
non-saleable produce or that makes
the produce fit for consumption
(processing units). There is need to
modernize storage and movement of
grains, by moving towards modern silos
and containerization. Modernizing the
storage and handling can double the

usable life of the inventory, though the
eventual liquidation to market and PDS/
OWS, etc., will still be needed.
There is a greater need for hybrid
systems that share the load with the
grid, as well with other renewable
energy sources. For large cold stores,
the optimal option is to design for use
with clean grid energy, to maintain
improved viability in operations. In the
milk chiller installations, a large number
of units have also innovated with
gobar-gas (bio gas) based electricity
generators. Other possible technologies
to generate cooling are solar thermal
solutions, vapor absorption based
systems and hybrids of electricity source
inputs. Thermal storage (PCM – Phase
Change Materials) also help reduce the
energy risk in bulk milk chillers.
The use of program logic control
(PLC) based systems has an immediate
impact on energy used and is easily
implementable. Similarly, upgrading the
insulation of temperature-controlled
spaces has high energy saving impact.
The ensuing automation of energy
intensive applications can reduce
operating costs upto 20-25% in old
cold storage units.
Except for rail mode of transport,
all other modes cannot be connected
to the electricity grid; and the transport
on road, ship and air are reliant on
availability of fossil fuel. Therefore,
technologies that can reduce the energy
load in transport are equally, if not
more important to the overall food
chain.
supplychaintribe.com
What are NCCD’s
recommendations to achieve the
desired goalpost?
It is recommended that modern pack-
houses at village level be promoted
as a priority infrastructure. The bane
of Indian agriculture is not so much
the fragmentation of farms, but that
the output from the farms remains
fragmented. Pack-house units can
serve as signalling centres to decide
the harvesting activities depending
on market linkage. This signalling
can be made robust by application-
based information messaging to the
registered farmers. To fulfil existing
demand, the access and logistics
connectivity for greater market outreach
is the immediate priority for gainful
production activities.
Integrated pack-houses are created
at village level also called farm-gate
aggregation hubs and are necessary
if the farmers are to expand their
reach into markets. A modern pack-
house is the nerve centre of the fruit
and vegetable supply chain. Initially,
pack-houses were used for exports, but
increasingly domestic market is also
showing preference for good quality
fresh whole produce. The main enabler
for growth in imported fruits and
vegetables is that source farms abroad,
have recourse to modern pack-houses,
to prepare and initiate the produce
for the long travel to reach distant
importing countries.
CELERITY September - October 2019
INTERVIEW
What are the plans to enhance
the prospects of cold chain?
First & foremost, cold chain must
be looked upon afresh, as a mode
that extends the selling range of
the produce, and thus expands the
farmers’ market footprint. This
extended marketing range allows for
a higher throughput or traffic to the
consumers and a matching growth in
value realization and socio-economic
development. As global population
increases & nutritional security comes
to the fore, making environmental
security imperative, where cold chain
helps to battle these concerns. Cold
chain ensures that fresh whole produce
reaches gainful end-use and therein
mitigates food loss, minimizing thereby
the negative impact of agriculture on
climate and Earth’s depleting natural
resources. Efficient agri-logistics
enhances market linkage and justifies
efforts to produce more and brings
overall growth to agriculture.
During his three decades experience,
Pawanexh Kohli has brought key concept
level changes to agricultural logistics and
the marketing system to guide government
interventions and associated policies. Kohli
seeks pragmatic & sustainable solutions and
contributes as a thought leader and counsels
various executive and steering committees of
industry & government.
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