Agricultural Supply Chain in India: Challenges and Solutions

Desklib provides solved assignments and past papers to help students succeed.

CHAPTER 1

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
1.1 SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS IN AGRICULTURE PRODUCT IN INDIA........................3
1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.....................................................................................................5
AIM:.........................................................................................................................................................5
OBJECTIVES:.............................................................................................................................................5
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION........................................................................................................................5
1.4 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER....................................................................................................................5
1.5 OUTLINE OF STUDY............................................................................................................................6

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 SUPPLY CHAIN CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS IN AGRICULTURE PRODUCT
IN INDIA
India has experienced significant growth for the production of the various and different
commodities of agriculture over the last four decades. India is known as the land of agriculture
and 50% of the population is dependent on the agriculture business. India with its predominant
rural base is being considered as one of the largest and oldest agrarian countries. India is still
having its dependency on the agriculture base (Parwez, 2013). One of the main big problem and
issues that are being faced by the farmer of India are the improper connection of the farmers
with the sellers for their products. Farmers are facing the issue to sell their products in a time
and it results in the expiry of the products. They also face the problem of not getting the
appropriate price for their agriculture products and crops. The situation of the storage of the
agriculture products in India is also very critical as most of them get spoiled in the warehouses
only and one of the other reasons is also the lack of modern technology and improper facilities
in the warehouses (Pdfs.semanticscholar.org., 2019). There are some of the agriculture
products of the FMCG like fruits and vegetables that need to supply every day in the market for
the livelihood uses. In India, some of the products get damaged at the time of transportation
and it has become the toughest problem in the agriculture supply chain. The farmers of India
are facing the main problem are related to the use of the modern technology as they are not
aware of the technology which they can use for selling the products and getting information
and awareness for the same (Springercom. 2019).
The main challenges faced by the Indian agriculture farmers are the storage facilities that are
either very low or not adequate. The storage facilities in a rural area of India are either
inadequate or absent. Under such conditions, the farmers are pushed and forced to sell their
product immediately after the harvesting at the market prices which tends to be very low
(Omicsonlineorg. 2019).

The other challenge with Indian agriculture that has made it handicapped is the lack of cheap
and effective means of transportation. The lack of proper transportation also creates the
biggest problem for Indian agriculture as it hinders the efficient supply chain of the agriculture
products in India. In India, the farmers also face the problem of losses of the agricultural
products during storage and transportation. This problem exists due to the mismanagement by
the farmers and lack of taking updates from the transportation partners. The farmers also have
a lack of information about the flow of the products and also about the markets. There is also a
lack of transparency in the supply chain process in India. The farmers of India also have lesser
control of the product quality and safety across the supply chain. Also, some of the products
have a poor shelf life that needs to be sold before the expiry date that needs to be sold before
that date. Farmers are not able to connect with the suppliers and markets to sell those
perishable products which result in the selling of the product at the lesser price. Also, the lack
of knowledge, education and awareness by the farmers for the agriculture products and other
aspects results into the heavy loss by the farmers. Along with this, the farmers also face the
problem related to the storage as a result of this various product (Sciencedirectcom. 2019).

1.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
AIM:
This research project aims to analyze the supply chain challenges and problems in agriculture
product in India
OBJECTIVES:
Following are the objectives for the dissertation:
 To assess the main problem that India has been facing in the supply chain of agriculture
products?
 To identify the reason for the existence of this problem even today
 To identify the different types of people (stakeholders) associated with the problem one
way or another
 To evaluate the planning for solving the problem
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION
Below are the research questions for this dissertation:
1. What is the main problem that India has been facing in the supply chain of agriculture products?
2. Why does the problem exist even today?
3. Impact of agriculture supply chain on farmers? 4
4. Who are the different types of people (stakeholders) associated with the problem one way or
another? 5. How do you plan to solve the problem?
1.4 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER
This chapter has discussed the introduction to the topic and title. The section has tried to focus on the
issues and challenges faced by the Indian farmers related to the agriculture product in India. This section
has also discussed the research aims and objectives that will be used in further chapters. Along with this
research questions have also covered in this section.

1.5 OUTLINE OF STUDY
The outline of the study is as follow: the forthcoming chapter is a literature review, which addresses the
key and main research areas; this is followed by the methodology explaining the use of the mixed
methods with their limitation and the ethical issues of the method. The next chapter of finding analyses
the answers for the research questions and finally there are the chapters for the discussion and
conclusion that provide the summary of the findings. Further, the recommendations for future
information and research is also being provided.

REFERENCES
 Parwez, S., (2013). Food supply chain management in Indian Agriculture: Issues,
opportunities and further research.
 Pdfs.semanticscholar.org. (2019). [online] Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4f63/2b6ec4bd1ebdc53a0fcf295b1cd3800ed11e.pdf
[Accessed 24 Mar. 2019].
 Springercom. 2019. SpringerLink. [Online]. [24 March 2019]. Available from:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-006-9038-0.
 Omicsonlineorg. 2019. OMICS International. [Online]. [24 March 2019]. Available
from: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/agriculture-role-on-indianeconomy-
2151-6219-1000176.php?aid=62176.
 Sciencedirectcom. 2019. Sciencedirectcom. [Online]. [24 March 2019]. Available
from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168169907001998