Omaguaco

Omaguaco introduce solar wind dehydrators built with recycled barrels to add value to the discard of the fruit and vegetable harvest while supporting associative self-employment with graduates of agro-technical schools.

In Argentina, more than 30% of the agricultural harvest is considered waste and each year more than 600,000 hectares of vegetables are grown. This represents more than 180,000,000 kilos thrown in the trash per harvest. Omaguaco came up with the idea that this food could be dehydrated and consumed out of season, transported with a 10% reduction in weight, with lower logistics costs, producing more than 720.000.000 nutritious soup units.

Their innovation is a solar wind dehydrator designed to fuse the heating of the air with direct solar irradiation and reflection, using a semi-parabola mirror, a vane and a collector that redirects the wind, collects and circulates the air through wind power. The air circulates between the trays and is extracted by dragging the moisture through a windmill.

The idea aims to assist the agricultural producer with a tool that would add value to a commonly wasted material. This could solve the gastronomic needs of local populations, generate job opportunities and increase the social inclusion of young people.