One of the main issues of the commercialization of agriculture is the lack of storage capacity for the farmers’ organizations (FOs) especially those that produce fresh vegetables. Without effective storage system, farmers cannot consolidate their produce and manage demand-supply opportunities properly. That is why oftentimes, there is too much supply during peak season and there is not enough supply to the market in other period of the year.

Some development projects invested in modern cool storage system for the farmers. However, they completely failed because the system is too big and farmers do not have enough produce to keep in the storage. Moreover, the operating cost of the system is very high due to the cost of electricity and its maintenance.

In 2017, Lao Farmer Network piloted zero energy cool storage system in 3 locations: with the bitter bamboo group in Oudomxay province, with the organic vegetable group in Vientiane capital, and with the vegetable cooperative in Xiengkhouang province. The system is designed based on experiences in an organic farm in Vangvieng, Vientiane province.

The storage is 4 x 4 x 4 meters and 2 meters down from the soil surface. The storage is naturally kept cool by the soil temperature. The storage also connects to cool air source such as air from spring well or natural creeks. The cool air comes in and the warmer air go out the storage by itself without using any electronic device.

The construction costs around USD 2,000 which can keep 2-3 tons of vegetables. The temperature is about 4 - 7 degrees Celsius different from the outside.