Charcoal cooling system that keeps farm produce fresh
The Royal Netherlands Embassy recently handed over a charcoal cooling system cold room to a group of small scale flower farmers belonging to Uganda Floricultural Association (UFA).
The Royal Netherlands Embassy recently handed over a charcoal cooling system cold room to a group of small scale flower farmers belonging to Uganda Floricultural Association (UFA).
The locally fabricated charcoal cooler, installed at their headquarters at Kasangati, is to help the farmers preserve their flowers before they are transported to the market.
Temperature is a major factor affecting the storage of cut-flowers. A cooling system is necessary to keep the flowers fresh. However, most small scale flower farmers cannot afford a cooling system on their individual farms because of lack of infrastructure like power and even the money to set up a cold room.
The alternative is a charcoal cooler which can be as effective as any cold room in keeping flowers cool as they wait to be transported to the market.
The charcoal sucks the heat from the flowers inside the store as water continuously flows from the top to bottom carrying away the heat and subsequently cooling the air around it.
The minimum and maximum temperature for the charcoal pre-cooling system ranges between 12oC to 18oC.
This temperature can be lowered by increasing the width of the charcoal wall.
However, by increasing the width, the cost also increases. The charcoal chamber linings do not need to be refilled, except the lower base that experiences some charcoal droppings.
The charcoal cooler is a low cost substitute that can effectively cool horticultural products to desirable levels, especially in rural areas, with no electricity.
The cost of the whole cooling system ranges between sh2m and sh2.5m mainly depending on the price of charcoal. Similar technology is used by fruits and vegetable farmers in Kasese and Kabale respectively.
The locally fabricated charcoal cooler, installed at their headquarters at Kasangati, is to help the farmers preserve their flowers before they are transported to the market.
Temperature is a major factor affecting the storage of cut-flowers. A cooling system is necessary to keep the flowers fresh. However, most small scale flower farmers cannot afford a cooling system on their individual farms because of lack of infrastructure like power and even the money to set up a cold room.
The alternative is a charcoal cooler which can be as effective as any cold room in keeping flowers cool as they wait to be transported to the market.
The charcoal sucks the heat from the flowers inside the store as water continuously flows from the top to bottom carrying away the heat and subsequently cooling the air around it.
The minimum and maximum temperature for the charcoal pre-cooling system ranges between 12oC to 18oC.
This temperature can be lowered by increasing the width of the charcoal wall.
However, by increasing the width, the cost also increases. The charcoal chamber linings do not need to be refilled, except the lower base that experiences some charcoal droppings.
The charcoal cooler is a low cost substitute that can effectively cool horticultural products to desirable levels, especially in rural areas, with no electricity.
The cost of the whole cooling system ranges between sh2m and sh2.5m mainly depending on the price of charcoal. Similar technology is used by fruits and vegetable farmers in Kasese and Kabale respectively.