Smart Warehouse
PI: Santosh Noronha, Chemical Engineering Department
Extensive post-harvest wastage of produce is an important problem in the agricultural sector. The Food Loss Index in our country is high enough to potentially prevent us from meeting our SDG (12.3) goals. For example, Maharashtra is the leading onion producing state in India, (India is, itself, the second largest onion producer in the world) and Nashik district is a primary production and warehousing region. A significant percentage of produce housed in warehouses is lost due to improper storage. This loss of stored produce can be due to several reasons: unfavorable micro-climatic conditions, lack of appropriate ventilation, and delayed identification of rotting produce. It is proposed to develop a smart warehouse solution to monitor the quality of a specific produce, such as onions, by deploying a sensor network which monitors environmental parameters and gas composition, and which triggers and communicates alerts as appropriate. The smart warehouse solution to curb the loss of stored produce will greatly benefit those at the bottom of the pyramid in the agricultural sector.