The recent National Post-Harvest and Logistics Summit was organized by CII’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) with the theme “Sustainably managing food loss and climate change.” The 7th CII Cold Chain Award Ceremony came after the summit.
The conference served as an important forum for discussing innovations, business models, and best practices that organizations have used to reduce food loss and environmental impact. The summit included three technical sessions. The first session was titled “Spotlight on the Global Best Practices to Mitigate Climate Change” and focused on highlighting mitigation measures for poor nations that would help them achieve paradigm-shifting changes to address climate change. In the second session, “Achieving Net Zero Carbon Emission by 2070,” it was discussed how organizations might cut their carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve a “Net Zero Future.” Climate-smart Post-harvest Innovations was the third session, and it aimed to spark science-based policy action on sustainable post-harvest innovation by bringing together international researchers and stakeholders to share perspectives on important issues like climate change and its effects on cold chain markets, as well as to discuss natural solutions to prevent post-harvest losses across the globe in India.
In 2021, an industry-led Cold Chain Logistics Resource Centre (CCLRC) will be established within CII’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence to build seamless cold chain logistics. International organizations like GIZ and UNEP support the CCLRC, which is in line with global objectives like the Sustainable Development Goals and the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
The day featured the debut of the CCLRC-developed commodity-specific post-harvest protocols for fruits and vegetables, frozen products, and logistical protocols.
The CCLRC will keep advancing green technology, testing community cooling options, and strengthening the sector’s capabilities in India.