China’s cold chain technology to ensure Pakistan’s food security and boost agricultural exports

BEIJING, Nov. 16 (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 16th Nov, 2020 ) ::China’s cold chain technology may help Pakistan reduce loss of agricultural products and increase the added value, said Chen Lin, vice president of Hefei Lianhui Refrigeration Equipment Co., Ltd.

There is close cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani rice seed companies. To meet the needs of seed storage in Pakistan, Chen Lin started to build an 800-square-meter seed cold storage warehouse with a rice company in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2017.

Seed cold storage warehouse is widely used in Southeast Asia, because seeds need to achieve a certain germination rate, which is mainly related to temperature and humidity indicators. If humidity exceeds 65%, the germination will be affected, he told China Economic Net.

Chen Lin said that his company delivers the equipment and cold storage plates to Pakistan, and send technical personnel for equipment installation and training of Pakistani personnel. Customers may encounter problems in production and processing, we need to give an overall solution,he said.

In recent years, Pakistan has made breakthroughs in the export of mangoes and citrus fruits to China. Chen Lin gave an air conditioning fresh-keeping technology solution to resolve the preservation problems due to month-long shipping cycle.

Chen Lin said that mangoes and oranges could be stored for about three months, cherries for 45 days, kiwifruits for six months, apples for 3-6 months, and bayberries for about 30 days.

The extension of storage period also brings higher added value. Fruits with higher added value, such as cherries, kiwifruits and golden pears, can be sold at higher prices when stored off-season.

After picking, fruits cannot be directly put into the cold storage warehouse, they must be precooled at 0-5 hC. “When the fruits are picked, they have residual heat,” Chen said, if they are immediately taken to a cold storage warehouse, the surface temperature drops, but the central temperature does not, this may lead to spoilage in fruits because they are not precooled properly.

Cherries, kiwifruits and blueberries all need to be precooled. According to Chen, not only fruits, but also vegetables can benefit from quick freezing technology. Broccoli, lentils, peas, wax gourd and pumpkin can be frozen quickly. Some domestic hotels, as well as restaurants, directly purchase semi-finished dishes, and avoid all intermediate parts such as buying, washing and cutting vegetables.

Sardine were the largest among the aquatic products imported from Pakistan in the first three quarters of this year, reaching 22, 500 tons, 6.4 times as much as the import volume of the same period last year, according to the General Administration of Customs of China.

According to Chen, aquatic products storage includes raw material storage and processed product storage. In terms of raw material storage, fish and shrimp should be frozen immediately after being fished up, rather than directly stored in low-temperature storage.

Aquatic products decay quickly when exposed to normal temperature. Quick freezing can swiftly lock nutrients and avoid bacterial infections, he added.

Chen said lobsters can be preserved by quick freezing in liquid nitrogen at – 150 C, and crabs can also be made into quick-frozen products. In addition, the added value of crab sauce is very high. A domestic factory of 500 staff can only produce 500 kg crab sauce a day, which is mainly supplied to five-star hotels in Shanghai and other first tier cities.

Many Chinese business firms engaging in aquatic products deep processing import Basa fish and South America prawn from Pakistan and Southeast Asian countries, as their price is competitive, Chen said, adding that Basa fish and crayfish are relatively scarce in China now, and we plan to conduct business on aquatic products with Pakistani business firms.