Agricultural cold storage and preservation facilities break ground

Work on the first project of agricultural cold storage and preservation facilities in Miping township, Kaiyang county, commenced on Oct 16.

The project was jointly initiated by Guizhou Yongchuang Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co's two professional farmers' cooperatives in Kaiyang.

The project covers a total area of 1600 square meters and has a total investment of 6.8 million yuan ($929,560). It involves the construction of two cold storage facilities, each with a capacity of 3200 cubic meters (12 units), as well as the installation of two sets of information automatic data acquisition systems.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of November. Once finished, it will be able to store 640 metric tons of agricultural products simultaneously and create jobs for over 20 local residents.

In recent years, Miping township has vigorously promoted fruit cultivation. So far, the township has planted over 20,000 mu (1333.33 acres) of various fruits, including peaches, plums, citrus, kiwis, and loquats. In the year 2022 alone, Miping delivered more than 10,000 tons of agricultural products to the market, generating an output value exceeding 100 million yuan.

Upon completion of the cold storage facilities, Miping plans to acquire five refrigerated trucks to enhance the cold chain infrastructure. This move will gradually improve the storage and preservation, commercial processing, and initial processing capabilities of agricultural products at the source, effectively reducing post-harvest losses for farmers.

It will also allow for better timing of agricultural product sales, increasing their bargaining power and resilience in the industry. The township's agricultural product output value is expected to exceed 200 million yuan this year.