By Omer Bilal Islamabad, March 18, (INP-WealthPK): The Board of Investment (BOI) is seeking applications for establishment of a solar dehydration plant for vegetables. The estimated cost of the project is PKR620.03 million whereas the preferred mode of investment is 100 percent private equity. The plant will be established in Khanewal district of Punjab and completed within one year. Dehydrated vegetables and fruits are produced and traded in large quantities around the world. International trade of dehydrated horticultural products has been increasing over the years. In 2020, the total export market of dehydrated vegetables was USD15.4 billion. This included USD4.3 billion exports of dried vegetables in whole, cut, sliced, and powdered form and USD11.1 billion exports of dried leguminous vegetables. Talking to WealthPK, a BOI official said, ‘’The international market of dried vegetables is expanding, offering an attractive opportunity for the private investors. The subject project presents the findings of pre-feasibility of establishing a solar dehydration unit for drying vegetables destined for export market. The products selected for the purpose of this study include dehydrated onion, carrot, tomato, spinach and chilies’’. The official said the unit with 10 solar dehydrators will have the capacity to handle 10 tons of fresh vegetables, as each dehydrator has a capacity of one ton. The dehydration process will be carried out using solar power that will remove a large share of moisture in the fresh produce. The process will be supported by the fuel-powered cabinet dehydrators that will be used only for removing any residual moisture during the days when adequate sunlight may not be available due to unfavourable weather conditions. A senior member in charge of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) informed WealthPK that vegetables could be dehydrated through a number of methods including oven drier, solar dehydration and sun drying, whereas draught tunnel was used for commercial production involving long chambers constructed by special bricks through which the trays of vegetables move on trolleys. The official said drying time and drying conditions were important factors in dehydration of vegetables. Except peppers and mushrooms, all vegetables should be washed, sliced and balanced. He further informed WealthPk that the PARC had a dehydrated processing unit, spread over eight kanals, for dehydration of vegetables and fruits. The unit dehydrates 5,000kg of vegetables and fruits a day. The unit was constructed at a  cost of Rs25.497 million including purchase of machinery and equipment. A solar dehydration plant consists of a flat box (frame) placed at an angle, with an open bottom and top, so that light may penetrate and the air can circulate. A metal sheet, painted black, is placed on the bottom of the box. The black colour absorbs the sunrays and heats the air above. The frame is covered with glass, transparent plastic foil or a plain garden plastic. The warm air reaches 40-50°C, rises and leaves the heating box through the top opening and flows through the drying chamber with drying screens.