Bringing environment-friendly cooling solutions close to the farmgate
New Leaf Dynamic Technologies Private Limited
Background
Inadequate access to reliable grid-based electricity hinders mechanization in both farm and non-farm sectors and poses a significant challenge for agriculture in India. The potential market for indispensable equipment, such as reaper binders, knapsack sprayers, and rice transplanters, is conservatively estimated at approximately USD 40 billion. Studies conducted by the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) reveal a stark absence of farm-level infrastructure for cooling or pre-cooling the agricultural produce. The study also highlights a 90 percent shortfall in ripening chambers close to consumption hubs, particularly in urban centers. The lack of pre-conditioning of the fresh farm produce impedes the realization of subsequent benefits of the cold chain. This problem is further worsened by various supply chain obstacles such as inadequate road infrastructure, safety apprehensions, scarcity of suitable land locations, lack of reliable power supply etc. Consequently, proliferation of cold storage facilities has also remained severely constrained, notwithstanding the private ownership of 96% of cold storage facilities.
The Enterprise
New Leaf Dynamics Technologies Private Limited (NLD) is a reputable entity specializing in the design and manufacture of refrigeration systems fueled by agricultural biomass. These systems cater for the requirements of cold storage of agricultural and horticultural produce, fruits, vegetables, and milk chilling, particularly in off-grid and partially electrified regions of rural areas. Established in 2012, NLD is dedicated to mitigating post-harvest losses, enhancing farmers’ incomes, and fostering micro-enterprises by extending the shelf life of perishable produce through accessible refrigeration facilities situated close to farm locations.
The company is the brainchild of Anurag Agarwal, a seasoned innovator renowned for developing patented cooling technologies, and the company’s Chief Technology Officer. His son, Akash Agarwal, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer, is a postgraduate in Business Administration and has been instrumental in securing financing avenues for the company’s products, facilitating accessibility for end-users.
NLD has participated in pioneering initiatives, including a distinguished pilot program under the International Finance Corporation’s acclaimed TechEmerge program. Additionally, the company has received support from reputed entities such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Water and Energy for Food Grand Challenge for Development (WE4F) program, the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) via its Powering Livelihoods program etc. Furthermore, NLD’s product has undergone rigorous selection, validation, incubation, funding, and de-risking by Social Alpha, rendering it scalable.
The Business Model
NLD’s flagship product is GreenCHILL – a patented multipurpose biomass-based refrigeration unit that is being utilized in running cold storage, precooler, ripening chamber and dehydrator of 10 MT, 15 MT and 20 MT capacity for fruits, vegetables, flowers at farms or aggregation sectors. Furthermore, the cold rooms can operate on single-phase grid power, thereby increasing their reach to the most remote locations with limited energy access. It also uses R717 (ammonia) as a refrigerant which has zero global warming potential (GWP) and high efficiency. NLD’s indigenously developed technology is also leak-proof, thereby removing the risk of refrigerant leakage, unlikely other conventional refrigerants.
The company’s primary customers are farmer producer organizations and companies, self-help groups and large farmers. As a result of the company’s significant emphasis on cost reduction through research and development in collaboration with various technological institutes of repute such as IIT Patna and Georgia Tech Research Corporation, the farmers can currently recoup their investment within 2 to 3 years while availing subsidies up to 35% under different schemes such as the National Horticulture Mission and Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro-food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme. The company also provides financing assistance to its end users, which leads to greater adoption of the technology at the rural level.
The Solution
GreenCHILL is an innovative, unconventional, biomass-powered cooling technology which is better placed to tackle the problems of shortage in the cold storage infrastructures at the farm gate level and can establish an end-to-end cold supply chain from farm to fork and guide farmers on post-harvest management practices to handle harvested produce for reducing supply chain losses. It replaces a conventional electrically powered compression chiller utilizing refrigerants and runs virtually independently of electricity from a grid, solar, or diesel generating set as it only needs 600 W power in a single phase, which can be backed up by any small inverter, thus effectively eliminating the dependency on the grid.
Over the past four years, NLD has been able to establish these units at more than 100 locations across nine states, with 2,000+ MT of cold storage space benefitting 9,500-plus farmers, and training 500-plus farmers on post-harvest management. This track record has provided NLD a reasonable understanding of India’s cold chain infrastructure and its existing gaps. Through its innovative product, the company has positioned itself as a promising technology contender in the fight against the post-harvest loss.