Cold Chain Management for Perishable Food: Issues and Scope for India

--Jitendra Rathore

India is the leading producer of food in the world, but is faced with the problem of controlling post-harvest losses. Since India is one of the most promising and growing economies of the world, it has attracted many companies related to agri-business and food business. It is therefore imperative for the stakeholders investing in India to adopt the cold chain network practices successfully implemented by the developed countries across the globe.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Public-Private Partnership and Value Addition: A Two-Pronged Approach
for Sustainable Dairy Supply Chain Management

-- K H Rao, P N Raju, G P Reddy and S A Hussain

With the highest livestock population in the world, India has emerged as the largest milk producing country constituting about 16% of the world milk production. This successful growth in the dairy sector over the years can primarily be ascribed to the ‘operation flood’ program, establishment of well-developed market linkages and marketing infrastructure. However, currently, dairy industries are facing high input costs for milk production, lack of infrastructure for handling, transport, processing and marketing. A sustainable dairy industry is possible only when the remunerative prices to the farmer, value to the consumer, reasonable returns to the industry and stakeholders are ensured. An efficient supply chain and value addition through product diversification are the key approaches that can make dairying business sustainable. The present study focuses on the rationale and critical issues for efficient supply chain management in dairy industry, various strategies for value addition of milk and scope of public-private-partnerships for sustainable dairy supply chain management.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

A Productivity Study of Medium Container Terminal

-- M Kasypi, M Z Shah and I Muhammad

Productivity is a summary measure of the quantity and quality of work performance with resource utilization considered. The study is motivated by rapid development in container terminal seaports in providing efficient and effective services and high seaport productivity. It focuses on Kuantan Port Consortium (KPC) of quay crane operator productivity for loading and discharging containers. The study analyzes and measures the data from KPC on the quay crane (qc) operator and vessel productivity from which actual data on operational vessel is collected. Technical results show that experienced qc operators at KPC are able to achieve the company’s key performance indicator. Thus, the company and qc operators are ready for container terminal development in future.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamics of Areca Nut Supply Chains in Garo Hills of Meghalaya: From a Product and Information Flow Perspective

-- Deepak Bhagat and U R Dhar

Areca nut is one of the important plantation crops in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. On the one hand, it is consumed on a large scale in the state; and on the other hand, it is sent outside the state to various processing factories. However, farmers are of the view that their due share from the marketing of areca nut is not reaching them because of which they are losing their interest in this crop. In the light of these concerns, an attempt is made in this paper to examine the product flow and information flow dimensions of areca nut supply chains in the Garo hills of Meghalaya. The study finds seven supply chains of areca nut in Garo hills of Meghalaya. The producer’s share in the consumer’s rupee was found to be very low in some channels, with the lowest being 25.09%. The marketing efficiency was also very low in a few cases, with the lowest being 0.33%. The information flow was also not very satisfactory in these supply chains. The study finds that both farmers and itinerant village traders were not satisfied with the information they get from their partners. There is a need for transparency across the entire supply chain of areca nut. This is possible by developing a system which allows timely and accurate information flow (mostly regarding markets, prices, etc.), so that these traditional supply chains can be converted into modern improved supply chains where every player works for mutual benefit.

© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.