i INP-WEALTHPK

Modern cold stores key to ensure food security, farmers’ prosperityتازترین

July 01, 2025

Muhammad Saleem

The lack of proper cold storage warehouses is causing huge losses to farmers, as much of their produce rots, threatening the country’s food security, reports WealthPK.

According to experts, improved storage and robust policies are crucial to reducing food loss and safeguarding farmers’ incomes. Talking to WealthPK, Muhammad Dilawar, a farmer, said lack of proper cold storage facilities affects the daily work of farmers and their earnings after the harvest.

“This has been a heartbreaking problem for decades, and the authorities are well aware of the entire situation. After working so hard to grow fruits and vegetables, if we can’t sell our produce quickly, it spoils, causing us huge losses,” he said.

“Much of the produce rots within a day or two in the absence of cold stores. Hot weather does not allow us to preserve our produce after harvesting, forcing us to sell it at low prices just to avoid huge losses, even if the market price is better,” he added.

Sometimes, he said, farmers have no choice but to discard much of their produce. It feels like all our hard work is going down the drain. Improving cold storage facilities can save food, boost the farmers‘ income, and strengthen the country’s food security, he added.

Talking to WealthPK, Dr. Muhammad Ijaz from Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, said a lot was yet to be done in the cold storage sector across Pakistan to improve the situation from the farm to the market. He said a handful of cold storage facilities near the farming areas were outdated, inefficient, and too expensive for the small farmers.

“Technology is fast changing everything, but most of our existing stores lack advanced cold chain management. We still observe poor handling, delays in transportation, and the use of unrefrigerated trucks. Besides, a lack of awareness about simple pre-cooling techniques at the farm level is also creating issues and contributing to post-harvest losses. The entire system needs improvement because a single missing link can break the whole chain,” he emphasized.

Sajid Ahmed, an agricultural economist, told WealthPK that cold storage inefficiencies are posing a significant challenge for the farming community. This issue is severely denting their financial position, but with the right blend of practical solutions, supportive policies, and strong partnerships, we can effectively reduce the post-harvest losses, he said.

“By providing state-of-the-art cold storage facilities to the farmers at affordable rates, we can easily save food, empower our farmers, and ensure a more food-secure future for our nation,” he said.

Discussing the estimated financial impact of post-harvest losses on Pakistan’s economy, particularly on farmers’ income and national food security, he noted that estimates suggest that over 25% of fresh produce, such as fruits and vegetables, is lost after harvest.

In monetary terms, he said these losses translate to billions of rupees annually, which is a significant drain on the country’s economy. Such losses are also directly reducing the farmers’ profits, trapping them in poverty, he said. At the national level, this means less food available, higher prices for consumers, and increased reliance on imports, he added.

“This situation is detrimental to Pakistan, as it affects food security and foreign exchange reserves. We need to break the vicious cycle by upgrading the cold storage facilities. The government needs to take practical measures to prioritize state-of-the-art cold storage facilities to ensure food security,” he emphasized.

Credit: INP-WealthPk