BY MICHAEL FISHER | NT NETWORK 
PANAJI: With the controversy over artificial ripening of fruits hitting traders and farmers badly, SBS Enterprises, headed by Mr Balkrishna S Shet Shirsat has set up Goa’s first ever ripening chamber and cold store rooms that will help Goan farmers and traders in selling their produce.

The Rs 55-lakh cold stores and ripening chamber has a capacity of 65 tonne and is divided into six chambers of different sizes. Built by an India-Italy collaboration, the cold store chamber has been at the Ponda market yard, which is a hub for fruits, vegetables and food stock commodities raised in Goa and imported from outside the state and distributed all over Goa.
Calcium carbide is being used to ripen fruits forcing consumers to keep off the luscious fruits. Now, the consumers need not worry as they can enjoy all fruits from the SBS cold rooms with certified labels assuring safety stuck on the fruits.
“We intend to introduce 1-kg hamper packed vegetables,” Mr Shirsat told The Navhind Times. 
The chambers are designed with different capacity and are flexible for adjusting different temperatures suited for the produce from +2 degrees to 25 degrees.
The ripening process is carried out by five per cent ethylene and 95 per cent nitrogen  a safe international norm by the United States FDA followed globally and approved by the National Horticulture Board, after a thorough inspection by their inspectors.
Mr Shirsat said while the consumers will get safe ripened fruits which are non-toxic, the local farmers and cultivators and traders can benefit by using the chambers or sell their products to SBS Enterprises.
SBS will market the produce through the 200-plus outlets of the Goa State Horticulture Development Corporation in shopping malls and local markets.
With a helping hand from the government, SBS is hoping to set up ethylene-based ripening chambers in Margao and Mapusa. During this year SBS is tying up with a Himachal Pradesh trader for importing apples on a big scale, thus bringing down the prices.