Solar powered dryers in agricultural produce processing for sustainable rural development worldwide: A case study from Nayarit-Mexico

Abstract

• Essential parameters of Sustainable Development Goal – 12 are introduced • A specific case study for farm production in Nayarit State, Mexico is presented • Prospects for solar powered solar drying is illustrated for sustainable development • Large-scale solar drying integrates recent innovations, applicable worldwide. Nayarit state on the Mexican Pacific Coast has a land area of 27,850 km 2 and a coastline of 290 km. The state represents 1.4% of the national territory, of which 438,400 hectares are currently dedicated for agricultural use. Nayarit is home to 1.23 million people, and produces tropical fruits such as mango, 316,750 metric tons and soursop 15,400 tons (May-July); pineapple, 34,250 tons (March-April); bananas 27,800 and jackfruit, 23,250 tons. Presently these add up to a total of 500,000 tons of yearly tropical fruit harvest amidst an increasing public awareness that these hold essential nutritional ingredients to help the population maintain its health and well-being. However, the water content in the produce of typically above 80% w/w, leads to bacterial and fungal activity. Consequently, a notable fraction of the produce perishes in a short period of time before they reach the consumer. Globally, such loss is 1.3 billion tons every year, as defined by the food loss index (FLI) and the food waste index (FWI). According to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-12 of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), both FLI and FWI should be reduced to one-half its current levels by the year 2030. To meet this goal, a significant fraction of the farm produce may be set apart for drying in solar powered dryers at the farm-site. With an aperture of 36 m 2 each, letting in UV filtered solar radiation and with an electric grid-integrated PV system, we estimate that 3500 of such dryers can produce nearly 480,000 kg of dried farm produce per day. This production represents 25% of the harvest, recovering also a significant amount of potable water released from the produce while drying. Thus, rural areas would produce dried farm products utilizing renewable energy; supply these worldwide, and benefit themselves from sustainable development.