Coldtivate App
DOWNLOAD AND EXPLORE OUR APP TO MAKE COOLING MORE ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE ALONG THE AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY CHAIN.
The app is being piloted in cold rooms across Bihar, Odisha, and Gujarat as part of the Your VCCA project. In its present format, the app caters to companies offering cold storage through the following key features:
Digitalising inventory management and the customer base
Read moreCold room operators can add cooling users, most of whom are farmers and petty traders, to initiate the check in and check out of their produce inside the rooms assigned to them. Digitalising the inventory management system allows operators to monitor the current and predicted occupancy in the room, the room temperature, and keep track of the prices received by the farmers for their produce stored in the cold rooms in a hassle-free manner.
Tracking the shelf-life of the produce in real-time
Read moreFor each checked-in commodity, the app calculates the time to pick up, a prediction of the number of days each crop is still good for. This calculation depends on factors such as the type of commodity, the room temperature, and the initial quality of the produce. As the temperature in the room might change to adjust for the mixed fruits and vegetables being stored at the facility, the pick-up time is recalculated every 6 hours.
Sharing knowledge on post-harvest handling and storage
Read moreThe Knowledge Hub contains information about the optimal storage temperature and average storage time for each commodity, and is being regularly expanded and enriched to reflect the best practices in post-harvest management as per latest research.
The app also enables farmers and petty traders with smartphones to register, locate cold rooms, and monitor their stored produce. Cooling users without smartphone are notified by SMS about their crops in storage, and the app is continuously updated to enhance the existing features based on user feedback. Cooling users can benefit from the following functionalities:
Market price forecasting
Read moreThe app forecasts the price of commodities across different markets in the vicinity of the cold rooms. This information, combined with the remaining time left to pick up, provides insights for cold room users on when and where to sell the crops in storage.
Remote monitoring of items in storage
Read moreSince farmers and traders are included as app users, they are able to monitor the room temperature in real-time, the number of days remaining to pick up their produce, and the daily market price forecasts. Farmers and traders who are not using the room are still able to download the app to get access to the Knowledge Hub, which is available offline, and to locate cold rooms in their vicinity.
Crop quality prediction from smartphone images
Read moreFor some crops, visual inspection is an important tool to estimate crop quality, ripeness level, and defects. Thus, the app will include a module to assess the quality of some crops based on smartphone pictures, and inform cold room users about the selling potential of different produce.