Kolkata: The Food Processing Industries and Horticulture department (FPI&H) is planning to introduce ripening chambers in all districts to prevent wastage of mangoes due to sudden storm or other climatic factors.
“Bengal mangoes are cherished across the world. However, every year, storms destroy a reasonable quantity of the fruit. Now, the weather forecast system has improved enough to predict a storm or other natural calamities. With ripening chambers, we can pluck the fruits well in advance and store them here. This will ensure the farmers can sell or export their produce and do not incur losses,” said state FPI&H minister Arup Roy at the inaugural ceremony of ‘Horti Food Festival 2024’ organised by his department in association with the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) .
Manoj Agarwal, additional chief secretary of Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) department said that his department may work in coordination with FPI & H on using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for reducing wastage of mangoes due to storm or insect attacks
“We have initiated talks with IIT Kharagpur on using Machine Learning and AI for developing a system using different databases of weather forecast, as well as soil health card and pesticide usage so that we can pluck mangoes in advance and prevent wastage,” he said .
Subrata Gupta, additional chief secretary of FPI & H department stressed the need for developing infrastructure for processing and enhancement of shelf life of horti products. “About 25 to 30 per cent of food in our state gets wasted due to improper storage and transportation. We need to make our processing system more efficient,” he said.
The three-day festival that will continue till February 19 aims to attract entrepreneurs for investment in the sector and disseminate modern technology to farmers. It will serve as a platform to bring together stakeholders including entrepreneurs, business groups, farmers, academic institutions, and government departments.