The Importance of Affordable Post-Harvest Infrastructure

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Irradiation is a process where food is passed through gamma radiation to destroy bacterial microbes. This delays spoilage and ripening, preventing sprouting and increasing the food shelf life. It doesn't harm your food, only sterilizes it. The government needs to focus on increasing access to affordable post-harvest infrastructure. Without that, we'll have no solutions.

On Tuesday, the Mint reported that the government plans to run an onion irradiation pilot to reduce the rot and increase their shelf life before tossing them into storage. So, in today’s episode for 23rd March 2023, we use this story to dive into India’s broader post-harvest loss problem of not just onions, but all perishable crops. And how irradiation can be a tiny part of the solution.