THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said its Cagayan Valley office has developed a zero-energy cooling chamber designed to extend the shelf life of freshly harvested vegetables like tomatoes and eggplant.
The P45,000 ZEC-C or Zero Energy Cooling Chamber is capable of storing 500 kilos, with larger capacities becoming more cost effective, the DA said in a statement.
“An economic analysis showed a return on investment of at least 71% for tomatoes and 32% for eggplant over a five to 21-day storage cycle,” it said.
ZEC-C, which took two years, was developed by researchers, farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses.
Principal technology author Mary Jane Ibarra of the Cagayan Valley Research Center in Ilagan City and her team conducted the trials comparing the performance of suitable materials, including coconut coir, charcoal, and a bricks-and-sand mix.
The trials in Aurora and Roxas, Isabela found that charcoal insulation effectively lowered temperatures by 5-10 degrees Celsius, and maintained humidity levels of 85-90% that are deemed ideal for vegetable storage.
Rose Mary Aquino, regional executive director for the DA’s Regional Field Office II, said ZEC-C preserved tomatoes for up to 21 days and eggplant for up to five days, based on initial freshness, firmness, and color.
The farmgate price of tomatoes in parts of the country in early March fell to as low as P4 per kilo due to excessive supply.
Due to lack of cold storage facilities, farmers in the Philippines either sell their excess at lower prices or dump them.
Ms. Aquino said other vegetables, such as bottle gourd (upo) and sponge gourd (patola) stayed in excellent condition for up to 6 days.
The ZEC-C technology launch and transfer are scheduled for late March at the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Trading Center, where two units with one-ton capacities will be awarded.
Additional units with capacities ranging from 200 kilos to one ton will be distributed to other towns in Isabela. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza