Hundreds of millions of tons of food are wasted every year. In many cases, these are crops that farmers do not sell because the crops do not look perfect. So many crops rot unnecessarily and do not feed anyone. There is a solution that can solve this problem. Unsold crops can be dried. Drying is not energy intensive, the sun is used for it.
How do crops dry in India?
Farmers in rural India can finally make extra money on unsold food. They use solar food dryers to dry food. Thanks to drying, food can last for many months without spoiling. Freezing unsold food is unthinkable, because almost no one in this country has a freezer. Drying is a much better choice. Now women in Maharashta in the west of India are being hired to operate specially-designed solar conduction dryers. Within a few hours, the food is free of all moisture.
Dried crops are used in the food industry
Tomatoes, garlic, ginger, onions, coconut, chilli or corn are all foods that can be easily dried. When the food dries, it is subsequently sold to 1,100+ food and beverage industry customers of the solar dryer’s creator, S4S, or, Science 4 Society. S4S dryers leave a lot of nutrients in the food even after drying and at the same time reduce emissions because the food does not need to cool. Thanks to the use of these dryers, 40,000 tons of food waste were prevented. In addition, drying employs around 800 women who would find it hard to find work.
Many crops are still being wasted around the world. When people are inspired and unused crops are dried, large amounts of waste and emissions are avoided. Watch a BBC video below that shows how dryers are used to dry crops.
Source & image credit:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-60347736
https://s4stechnologies.com/
