India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. However, the post-harvest loss amounts to approximately ₹ 92,651 crores annually, including ₹16,644 crore from fruits and ₹14,842 crore from vegetables, causing significant economic burden to the country. This loss is persistent due to the perishability nature of the fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the F&V should be stored in a cold storage to enhance its shelf life and mitigate the losses. The present study attempts to examine the growth of both the cold storage and production of F&V in the country, its relationship and the gap persistent. It is found that production of F&V is growing relatively faster than the cold storage capacity. There is a gap of approximately 50 percent in the cold storage space in comparison to its required storage space, moreover the upward trend signifies a growing gap over the years. This is also supported by a downward trend of the coverage ratio. The correlation and regression analysis reveals a strong and positive relationship between the production of F&V and the cold storage capacity. Therefore, considering the persistent growing gap, there is a requirement of proper policy focusing in the growth and strengthening of the cold storage sector to mitigate the post-harvest loss.
Mochahari et al. (Sun,) studied this question.