Challenges in Agricultural Supply Chain and Importance of Multi-Mode Decision Making

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Abstract
The aim of this research proposal is draw attention towards the issue that the agricultural
supply chain faces throughout the entire process starting with the farming, supply,
distribution and reaching the end users via the retailers. The study will provide a sound
understanding of the agro- ecosystem and the relation of agricultural supply chain with
multi –mode decision making after being aware of the challenges that are deeply
associated with the supply chain process in the agricultural field. It is aimed at finding out
the factors that lead to the decision failures in the agricultural field such as decision
timing, decision priority and decision follow –up. It is designed to be familiar with other
influencing factors such as inefficient use of fertilizer, political parties to the farm
households and others. It will also identify measures which could be adapted to support
the farmers more effectively.

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Background of the Study.........................................................................................................3
Research aims and objectives..................................................................................................4
Research Questions..................................................................................................................4
Research Hypothesis................................................................................................................5
Literature Review....................................................................................................................5
Exploration of the key terms....................................................................................................6
Research Design......................................................................................................................6
Data collection method............................................................................................................6
Data analysis technique...........................................................................................................7
Research ethical consideration................................................................................................7
Limitation of the study.............................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Background of the Study
The Agricultural industry is one of the most important fields for the survival. The food
consumed by humans is related to a huge cycle of operations. There has been many researches
regarding the challenges the supply chain of agricultural management faces through the process.
There are many issues such as delivery of commodities, need of temporary workers, increased
production needs and many others (Brandenburg et al. 2014). First of all, when the commodities
are delivered to the warehouses by various means of transportations such as by truck or train. In
most of the cases, the trucks are used in order to deliver the food materials to the concerned
warehouses. Although the entire process appears to be simple, it is actually not. The trucks do
face a goof range of issues at various sites. They are made to stand in queues for efficiency
testing in a short span of time.
A less efficient site loses their abilities to handle an increased workload. However, a
weak transport system can cause loss to the delivery of commodities. The next issue is with the
need of temporary workers. Some temporary workers are needed in order to support the
increased work pressure during the peak harvest times (Dubey, Gunasekaran and Ali 2015). The
new workers to this industry Theses workers find out the safety and training issues in the field
which incurs extra costs. Nowadays, although huge amount is spent on the trainings to ensure
safety, the new workers might face challenges in creating a safe working environment. The
increased production needs pose another crucial problem that clearly sets the need to have a
multi –mode decision making. Since with the increase of population, the demand for foods has
also increased, there is no other option than producing more (Lam et al 2015). However, the
expectation does not always meet the reality. The farmers face many problems while producing