ABSTRACT
India is the second largest producer of food in the world, but loss and waste at different levels from farm to fork render the country to be placed in the ‘serious’ category according to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017 released by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Integrated postharvest management of food is a major tool to combat the twin evils of loss and waste. Amity International Centre for Post Harvest Technology and Cold Chain Management (AICPHTandCCM), established in 2008 at Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, has been actively involved in developing and applying various interventions to reduce postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables through research, collaborative national and international projects, transfer of low cost technology to marginal farmers and providing hands-on training to 1745 primary beneficiaries. Major interventions include use of portable shade, crate liners, cling film wrapping, low cost storage of fresh produce in zero energy cool chambers of 100 kg and 1 MT capacities, CoolBot® fitted cool rooms, conversion of produce into value-added products through minimal, semi- and ready to serve processing, solar drying, utilization of vegetable waste products for obtaining phytonutrients and e-learning. The centre is participating to provide specialization in ‘Postharvest Technology’ in the master’s level teaching program of horticulture.
