Question Statement:
Read the excerpt and select the valid deduction(s):
"Post-harvest cold chains in tropical developing nations suffer from fragmented last-mile infrastructure. Smallholders often lack access to on-farm precooling facilities, forcing produce to remain at ambient field temperatures ($30^\circ\text{C}$ to $38^\circ\text{C}$) during initial transport. This thermal exposure triggers rapid respiratory heat generation, enzymatic softening, and accelerated moisture transpiration, which collectively degrade commercial shelf life before the commodity ever enters refrigerated distribution hubs."
Options:
- (A) Produce deterioration is accelerated by elevated respiration and transpiration caused by lack of immediate on-farm precooling.
- (B) Refrigerated distribution hubs completely restore the physiological shelf-life lost during ambient transport.
- (C) In tropical conditions, ambient temperatures between $30^\circ\text{C}$ and $38^\circ\text{C}$ trigger biochemical degradation in freshly harvested produce.
- (D) A robust cold chain requires addressing infrastructure bottlenecks at the farm-gate level.