A FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF SOLAR CROP DRYERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ABSTRACT The major attraction of solar dryers in most developing countries is the potential to solve two of the most urgent socio-economic problems: a growing crisis of insufficient food to feed rapidly rising populations; and the severe economic recessions brought on by the steep increases in fossil fuel prices in the 1970's. The development of improved solar dryers has largely been a consequence of the energy problems, with the result that much of the research effort has been directed towards developing better energy technologies that would implicitly solve the food supply problems. The efforts have turned up several designs that are technologically superior to traditional sun drying, though their appropriateness have not been proven in most of the target groups of rural people. This paper discusses the major issues and factors that must be considered in the conceptualization, definition, and execution of R&D projects on solar crop dryers in developing countries. It proposes a possible framework for conceptualisation and execution of R & D on solar dryers to ensure their developmental as well as scientific credibility.