By Sunita Nhemaphuki and Damber Khanal
Post-harvest loss remains a major challenge in Nepal’s agriculture sector, especially in fruits and vegetables. A significant percentage of produce spoils before reaching consumers due to a lack of proper storage and cold chain management systems. R & D Innovative Solution Pvt. Ltd., an agri-intel company working since 2010, has been actively addressing this issue through innovative and practical solutions.
R & D began its journey by supporting agricultural entrepreneurs. In 2013, the company launched a vegetable mart called Karasabari, later rebranded as GreenMart, which expanded from a single shop to 24 outlets. However, as GreenMart grew, it experienced serious post-harvest losses, especially due to the absence of cold storage facilities. This experience highlighted how critical post-harvest management is in ensuring business sustainability for agri-entrepreneurs.
In 2017, R & D received support from the Nepal Government to establish a mart exclusively focused on Nepali products, which included one cold storage unit. That initiative provided valuable insights into the complexities of cold chain management. It became clear that managing temperature-sensitive products was difficult, especially without decentralized cold storage solutions accessible to farmers and local traders.
From that learning, R & D Innovative Solution started working on farm-level cold chain solutions. The outcome was the introduction of the CoolBot system in Nepal. CoolBot is a simple yet powerful technology that converts a regular room into a cold storage facility using basic insulation and a household air conditioner. It runs on home electricity and can be customized to any size, making it affordable and adaptable for small farmers, cooperatives, and agri-enterprises.
Initially, CoolBot technology was piloted in kiwi and Junar (sweet orange) farms, where it proved highly effective. Encouraged by its success, the technology was extended to vegetable storage, apple preservation, and other perishable commodities. Today, CoolBot is recognized as a game-changing innovation for Nepal’s fruit and vegetable value chains.
By promoting CoolBot technology, R & D Innovative Solution continues its mission to strengthen agricultural entrepreneurs across Nepal. Its work helps reduce post-harvest loss, increases farmers’ incomes, and ensures that consumers receive fresh, high-quality local produce.
Lessons Learned from CoolBot Introduction (2018–2025)
From 2018 to 2025, while introducing CoolBot technology to reduce post-harvest losses in Nepal, R & D Innovative Solution observed several critical challenges that need to be addressed.
First, there is a significant lack of awareness and literacy about post-harvest management. Many users treat CoolBot storage like a simple locker, overlooking the fact that fresh produce is a living, breathing entity that requires specific conditions to maintain quality.
Second, irregular electricity supply remains a major barrier, especially in rural areas. Even where the technology is available, unreliable power disrupts consistent cold storage.
Another key issue is the limited production volume of many smallholder farmers, which makes it difficult to fully utilize cold storage capacity efficiently. In addition, access to finance is a major constraint. Most farmers are dependent on government subsidies to adopt such technologies, and often, only one farmer in a ward receives support each year. This fragmented approach fails to make a meaningful impact at the community level.
Ideally, every semi-commercial and commercial farmer should have access to their own CoolBot unit at the farm level. However, due to the financial and structural challenges, this vision has yet to be realized.
R & D Innovative Solution strongly recommends the establishment of a post-harvest center in every ward. These centers would allow farmers to safely store their produce for a few days, helping to reduce waste, maintain product quality, and improve market timing.
This simple but powerful infrastructure could significantly uplift rural agri-economies and ensure that technologies like CoolBot fulfill their full potential.
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