Solar-drying technology for Northern Areas soon

A project to introduce solar-drying technology for preservation of apricots will soon be launched in Northern Areas by the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) in collaboration with the Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET).

Apricot is one of the fruits abundantly produced in all of the Northern Areas, a spokesman for the PSF said. While it is difficult to sell fresh fruit in urban markets away from the region, sun-dried apricots and other fruits are quite popular in Pakistan.

The dried apricots of Hunza are sold as health products in the UK and other European countries.

The total production of apricots in the area is about 4,500 tons per year. But a huge quantity of these goes to waste due to lack of adequate facilities to preserve…