Modern fruit and vegetable storage facilities shorten the path to the consumer
There are several reasons for this. First, insufficient production. With a population of 143 million and a huge number of migrant workers, the country produces only about 4 million tons of fruit and vegetable products per year, which is clearly insufficient. And although vegetable markets are overflowing with juicy fruits and bright vegetables, these are mostly imported products. The reasons are not only outdated cultivation technologies, but also an insufficient number of agro-complexes, industrial gardens, and farms of the appropriate specialization.
Living in the countryside is unprofitable and unglamorous, infrastructure is insufficient, there are no competent organizers and hardworking workers in the required numbers. Neither are there favorable economic conditions for rural residents that could stimulate the growth of the domestic agricultural sector.
Secondly, significant storage losses must also be taken into account. Outdated storage systems – due to traditions, insufficient awareness, and limited budgets – prevail in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The most advanced now are Western storage technologies and cold storage facilities based on controlled atmosphere (CA) or, in other words, controlled (managed) gas atmosphere.
It is the constantly maintained temperature and gas conditions (optimal for each type of product) that allow fruit and vegetable products to be preserved much longer than in conventional storage areas. For comparison: domestic producers regularly lose up to 30% of vegetables and fruits due to poor storage. Foreign technologies, on the other hand, allow products to be stored for months before going on sale.
What is the solution? Not only in increasing production. The reconstruction of markets, warehouses of retail chains, and wholesale bases is long overdue. Modern cold storage facilities, well-thought-out logistics, and advanced equipment would improve the storage situation for domestic vegetables and fruits that are closer to the body due to their place of ripening (and therefore more beneficial) and would contribute to production growth.
Foreign harvests, gathered long before final ripening (and therefore poor in vitamins), treated with preservatives for long journeys, bring little benefit to our consumers. And if the problem is not solved, soon it will become even harder to stock vegetable markets with domestic products. The future of the domestic agricultural sector lies in new technologies.
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