From a Waste Product to a Valuable Post-Harvest Service: CO2 to the Help of Farmers
About 40% of fruits and vegetables produced in India are lost due to post-harvest management issues. NOF – Natural Offset Farming – offers an innovative solution
Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy, contributing nearly 20% to the national GDP and supporting over 50% of the population. With about 80% of Indian farmers being small and marginal, post-harvest losses have significant effects on them. Estimates suggest that farmers are unable to sell about 40% of the total fruits and vegetables produced, resulting in a loss of around ₹63,000 crore every year. Every kilogram of produce lost represents wasted food, effort, resources and potential.
Numerous attempts have been made to address post-harvest management issues, but none have reached the farm level effectively. Most existing post-harvest solutions operate outside the field at the packing house level. In this landscape, an Israeli company, NOF – Natural Offset Farming, is carving out its own path by assisting Indian farmers in creating value for their produce right at the farm level.
Over the past year, the company has been working in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, India’s largest strawberry-growing region. Together with hundreds of local farmers, they are applying their innovative treatment to extend the shelf life of produce, preserving its quality and opening doors to new market opportunities.
NOF has developed advanced cooling technology, shifting CO2 from emitters to the field. This novel post-harvest in-field treatment combines cooling technology and CO2 enrichment, making it mobile, accessible and inexpensive.
NOF’s objective is to bridge the current farm-level cold chain infrastructure gap in horticulture with decentralized and affordable post-harvest solutions. This enables even small-scale farmers to realize the full value of their produce, strengthening circular fruit supply chains.
The local team has demonstrated substantial shelf-life extension for multiple perishable horticulture value chains, including grapes, litchi, apricots, and jasmine. With cooling boxes as small as 100 kg, NOF’s business model, providing “Cooling-as-a-Service”, has resonated with farmers in the Strawberry Cluster in Maharashtra. The reduction of rejection rates, which were as high as 20% in strawberries, presents a tremendous opportunity to boost the incomes of smallholder farmers and strengthen the entire farm-to-fork supply chain.
Yoni Ben Zaken, Chief Business Officer, emphasizes that “NOF was established to support Indian farmers and is flourishing within India. The company believes in the Make in India approach, with its engineering, sourcing, and final manufacturing located in Satara, MH. This proximity to clients allows us to respond quickly to market needs. India is the first nation in the world in which CO2 post-harvest technology is implemented, and we will grow globally from India”.
For more information: https://nofcooling.com/
Photos: Courtesy of NOF
