CII National Task Force on Cold Chain Development has initiated several commodity-specific studies in different parts of the country. These studies are on banana in Tamil Nadu, pomegranate in Karnataka and apple in Jammu & Kashmir. In 2009, CII-FACE conducted a feasibility study for developing an
integrated cold chain in Tamil Nadu. Some of the major outcomes of the collaborative effort by CII and the Government of Tamil Nadu were:
• Government of Tamil Nadu tendered a request for proposal (RFP) for establishment of about 10 post harvest infrastructures for banana,
• Considerable increase in the number of ripening chambers in the state, and
• Formation of Tamil Nadu Banana Growers Federation and the inauguration of Thottiyam Solar Dryer unit for production of Madhur brand of bananas.

CII Tamil Nadu organised three editions of the Banana Festival and three Stakeholder Consultative Meets in the state to obtain stakeholders’ views and inputs to strengthen the banana cold chain sector, and is continuing to work with the farmers who have seen an increase in their income with these interventions. On similar lines, the Task Force plans to achieve a footprint in the mango sector in Andhra Pradesh. Some of the challenges hampering the growth of the mango industry in Andhra Pradesh are: low productivity of mango, high input costs, high wastages, poor adoption of scientific crop management practices hence compromise on quality, lack of adequate infrastructure facilities for processing, high interest rate on borrowings and high working capital requirement.

The project in Andhra Pradesh, titled ‘Strengthening of Post-Harvest Value Chain Management for Development of Mango Industry in Andhra Pradesh’, aims to address the challenges along the mango value chain that are hampering the growth of the sector, catalyze investments in post-harvest cold chain infrastructure, promote value addition and create brand value for mangoes from Andhra Pradesh, thus bolstering exports. At present, mangoes comprise only 2% of the horticulture produce exported from the country. The activities planned under the project include survey
of mango processors and farmers and identifying the challenges hampering the growth of the sector, capacity building and training of farmers and processors on new technologies and practices, post harvest and value addition, and establishing buyer-seller linkages to work out sustainable partnerships. The project is being implemented in partnership with the Department of Horticulture, Government of Andhra Pradesh. As an immediate outcome of the project launch workshop organized by CII-FACE in Tirupati on November 7, 2015, three working groups have been formed. The
working groups are on Production, Post Harvest and Marketing. Members of the groups comprise of representatives from the industry, Government, Horticulture University, APEDA, NABARD and farmers. The working groups would meet over a period of three to four months for focused deliberations and ultimately identifying actionable tasks to overcome the challenges faced by the sector along the mango value chain in the short term (less than one year), medium term (1-2 years) and long term (over 2 years). The first meeting of the working groups is scheduled in April 2016.