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Restructuring the agricultural supply chain

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... The downstream sector's supply chain was restructured using the techniques for restructuring chain flow and inventory position (Shah 2009). For farmers to sustain themselves and supply goods to consumers through intermediaries, Priya and Vivek (2016) suggested restructuring the supply chain. Farmers are using this technique to sell their products to consumers. ...
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Globally, people started gravitating toward organic food as health consciousness rose. From the farm to the consumer's fork, organic food is produced using a comprehensive method. Organic farming has provided farmers and producers with many opportunities, but there are still difficulties concerning the cost of production and distribu- tion. Due to environmental sustainability challenges, climate change, soil fertility, biological assortment, and consum- er well-being, organic farming is attracting more attention than conventional farming. Organic farming can be done using standardised methods and has many common issues with conventional farming. Organic farming has some unique problems as well. With the right strategies, careful planning, and government assistance, many difficulties faced by farmers can be addressed. The downstream material flow of the supply chain, and in particular demand estimation, market price, and identifying customer segments, has been identified as a significant problem in organic farming. Mas- sive losses have been incurred along with the entire supply chain a due to the inadequate demand estimation that has caused surpluses and shortages in the produce. A few farmers have resolved the cash flows and material information controlling problem. This article proposes various related hypotheses associated with identifying customer segments, forecasting demand for the product, and profitability as market price changes in the crop. Keywords: customer segment; demand estimation; downstream supply chain; market price; sustainable profit
... The downstream sector's supply chain was restructured using the techniques for restructuring chain flow and inventory position (Shah 2009). For farmers to sustain themselves and supply goods to consumers through intermediaries, Priya and Vivek (2016) suggested restructuring the supply chain. Farmers are using this technique to sell their products to consumers. ...
... The perishable nature and bulkiness of products, seasonal and scattered production, variability in quantity and quality (i.e. the product does not have standard dimensions), and specific logistics requirements should be considered (Patidar and Agrawal, 2020). These and similar reasons drive costs and reduce if not completely negate farmer profitability (Priya and Vivek, 2015). Table 1 identifies the characteristics of agribusiness supply chain members. ...
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Purpose Agri-food firms face many challenges when assessing and managing their performance. The purpose of this research is to determine important factors for an integrated agri-food supply chain performance measurement system. Design/methodology/approach This research uses the Peruvian kiwicha supply chain as a meaningful context to examine critical factors affecting agri-food supply chain performance. The research uses interpretative structural modelling (ISM) with fuzzy MICMAC methods to suggest a hierarchical performance measurement model. Findings The resulting kiwicha supply chain performance management model provides insights for managers and academic theory regarding managing competing priorities within the agri-food supply chain. Originality/value The model developed in this research has been validated by cooperative kiwicha associations based in Puno, Peru, and further refined by experts. Moreover, the results obtained through ISM and fuzzy MICMAC methods could help decision-makers from any agri-food supply chain focus on achieving high operational performance by integrating key performance measurement factors.
... Although it is a difficult endeavor, the implications for the security of the food supply and the environment could not be greater. To do this, it is necessary to utilize effective policymaking, socioeconomic and scientific advancements, farmer innovation, and public involvement[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. ...
... Zhou et al. (2013) investigated the role of UK-China collaboration in agriculture and food. Priya and Vivek (2016) suggested how to make the agriculture sector more sustainable and find out how to decrease the capital investment in agriculture. There are various early studies on FSC; however, no comprehensive bibliometric analysis has been performed in the FSC domain so far, as per the best of the authors' knowledge. ...
... In particular, SCRA activities are only justified if supply chain risks interfere with SCOP. (Wagner and Bode, 2008;Gligor and Esmark, 2015;Chiu and Choi, 2016;Priya and Vivek, 2016). ...
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Supply chain risks are one of the significant hurdles faced by the organisations in achieving operational excellence. The purpose of this study is to assess the supply chain risks in the pharmaceutical industries and their influence on supply chain operational performance (SCOP). Through extent literature review, we have identified 44 items which are classified under five constructs consisting of supplier risk (SR), production risk (PR), demand risk (DR), infrastructure risk (IR) and macro risk (MR). Using these constructs, a structured questionnaire has been developed. An online survey was conducted in the pharmaceutical industries yielding a response rate of 66.20%. To validate the hypotheses between these constructs and SCOP, we used Structural equation modelling (SEM). From the SEM result expect demand risks, all other threats have the negative relationship with SCOP (i.e., the higher the chances, the lower the SCOP).Further, to rank the organisation based on their SCOP, we proposed a supply chain risk assessment index (SCRAI) based on the ratings obtained from the experts using Fuzzy techniques. From these results, it is clear that SCRAI is essential for evaluating the organisation's efficiency on supply chain operations. Keywords: supply chain risks; pharmaceutical industries; supply chain operational performance; SCOP; risk index. 2 V. Raja Sreedharan et al. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Raja Sreedharan, V., Kamala, V. and Arunprasad, P. (xxxx) 'Supply chain risk assessment in pharmaceutical industries: an empirical approach', Int.
... The concept of 'sustainable intensification'(Pretty & Bharucha, 2014) but also 'agroecosystems' (Altieri, 1999), 'resilient agricul- ture'and 'farmer-managed public goods'(Blom-Zandstra, Korevaar, Stuiver, & Groot, 2016) bear many resemblances with nature-inclusive farming, including the flexibility of these concepts (see, e.g.Pretty & Bharucha, 2014). 2. Compare:Sathiya Priya & Vivek, 2016. ...
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It is becoming increasingly difficult to combine nature conservation by farmers with intensive and large-scale farming. The Dutch government recently adopted the new policy concept of ‘nature-inclusive’ farming, which aims at promoting more sustainable agricultural practices that minimizes negative ecological impacts, maximizes positive ones and at the same time benefits from natural processes. A transformation towards ‘nature-inclusive’ farming faces three key governance challenges that are elaborated upon in this paper. First, agri-environment schemes and other conservation arrangements need to become more effective. At the same time, nature conservation should be mainstreamed in agricultural policies and in agri-food chains. Second, we need shared meanings about nature-inclusive farming. Third, other forms of knowledge production for nature-inclusive farming are required that focus more on farmers’ knowledge needs.
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ERP plays a vital role in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of a supply chain. With a brief overview of ERP implementations, this paper describes some experiences of an ERP implementation named e-Galla at rice mills in the Haryana state of India. The case study reveals some important ERP modules required in MSMEs and its cluster based customisation and implementation. Specifically, it describes how the supply chain visibility can be improved by taking advantage of Information technology and system for business innovation. The research findings can provide the greater understanding of ERP implementation in MSMEs. Researchers, practicing managers and those seeking to implement ERP in MSMEs can also use the findings of the study as a vehicle for improving ERP implementation success in MSME. The scope of the paper is limited to ERP implementation project in MSMEs with reference to rice mill cluster in Kurukshetra region in the Haryana state of India.
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Africa faces enormous food security challenges. Most commentators agree that, despite the complexities of food insecurity, there will have to be increases in food production from existing agricultural land. Most, too, are pessimistic about the future, judging likelihood of success on the basis of past performance of ‘modern’ agricultural development. Sustainable agriculture, though, offers new opportunities, by emphasising the productive values of natural, social and human capital, all assets that Africa either has in abundance or that can be regenerated at low financial cost. This paper sets out an assets-based model of agricultural systems, together with a typology of eight improvements that are currently in use in sustainable agriculture projects. In the 45 projects/initiatives spread across 17 countries that are investigated, some 730,000 households have substantially improved food production and household food security. In 95% of the projects where yield increases were the aim, cereal yields have improved by 50–100%. Total farm food production has increased in all. The additional positive impacts on natural, social and human capital are also helping to build the assets base so as to sustain these improvements in the future. This analysis indicates that sustainable agriculture can deliver large increases in food production in Africa. But spreading these to much larger numbers of farm households will not be easy. It will require substantial policy, institutional and professional reform.
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Since its inception in 1988, the SAREprogram has sponsored hundreds of projects to exploreand apply economically viable, environmentally sound,and socially acceptable farming systems. Recognizingthat researchers often collaborated with producers andthat producer interest in sustainable agriculture wasincreasing, SARE's North-Central Region began directlyfunding farmers and ranchers in 1992 to test their ownideas on sustainable agriculture. The present articleis based on data from the formative evaluation of thefirst five years (1992 to 1996) of the NCR-SAREProducer Grant Program. The evaluation used acombination of mail surveys, non-response telephoneinterviews, and personal interviews.The evaluation revealed that the Program hassucceeded in showing that sustainable agriculturaltechnologies and practices can be viable andprofitable alternatives to conventional ways ofproducing crops and animals while simultaneously beingless environmentally damaging. On the other hand, thecontributions of the Producer Grant Program to thesocial and institutional spheres in which agricultureis embedded are less clear. Changes in these spheresare imperative for the success of sustainableagriculture, and for it to become more mainstream.Such changes cannot occur overnight, but they willremain the main challenge for SARE to tackle in thenear future.
Article
An analysis of the theory of biodynamic farming is presented. The founder of biological dynamic agriculture, the Austrian Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D., (1861–1925), introduced methods of preparation and use of eight compounds forming the nucleus of his agricultural theory. His instructions were based on insights and inner visions from spiritualistic exercises and not on agricultural experiments. His purpose was to show mankind a form of agriculture that enables not only the production of healthy foods but also the achievement of harmonious interactions in agriculture and a spiritual development of mankind through “cosmic forces” captured in the foods. However, many of his statements are not provable simply because scientifically clear hypotheses cannot be made as his descriptions were unclear and not stringent. Those predictions that can be tested scientifically have been found to be incorrect. It was concluded that Steiner's instructions are occult and dogmatic and cannot contribute to the development of alternative or sustainable agriculture.
Article
Contemporary food supply chains are generating externalities with high economic and social costs, notably in public health terms through the rise in diet-related non-communicable disease. The UK State is developing policy strategies to tackle these public health problems alongside intergovernmental responses. However, the governance of food supply chains is conducted by, and across, both private and public spheres and within a multilevel framework. The realities of contemporary food governance are that private interests are key drivers of food supply chains and have institutionalized a great deal of standards-setting and quality, notably from their locations in the downstream and midstream sectors. The UK State is designing some downstream and some midstream interventions to ameliorate the public health impacts of current food consumption patterns in England. The UK State has not addressed upstream interventions towards public health diet at the primary food production and processing stages, although traditionally it has shaped agricultural policy. Within the realities of contemporary multilevel governance, the UK State must act within the contexts set by the international regimes of the Common Agricultural Policy and the World Trade Organization agreements, notably on agriculture. The potential for further upstream agricultural policy reform is considered as part of a wider policy approach to address the public health externalities issuing from contemporary food supply chains within this multilevel governance context.
Article
Agriculture-related discussions in climate change research have been largely focused on the effects of a changing environment on agriculture and the possible consequences for global and regional food security. However, from a policy standpoint, it is also essential to address the impact of agriculture and related activities on environmental change. Over the last 50years, most of the world’s agriculture has transitioned into industrial agriculture that requires greater inputs of fossil-fuel energy, water, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which have created substantial harmful effects on air, soil, water and biodiversity. Sustainable farming that uses less chemicals and fossil-fuel energy and emphasizes localized production and consumption has come to be viewed as an eco-friendly alternative to modern agriculture. This paper will examine the concept of sustainable agriculture and compare and contrast its practice in Canada and Cuba. The paper will conclude with lessons that the two countries can learn from each other. KeywordsSustainable agriculture-Organic farming-Urban gardens-Community-supported agriculture-Canada-Cuba
Article
The primary purpose of this study was to assess in quantitative terms farmers’ perceptions of sustainable agriculture and to determine how those are influenced by different socio-economic characteristics and information-seeking behavior of the farmers. The study was conducted in Kahramanmaras province of Turkey and comprised a stratified sample of 208 farmers from four districts of the province. The farmers rated each of the 21 selected sustainable agricultural practices for importance on a 5-point scale, and the total of these ratings formed the sustainable agriculture perception index. The index score was calculated for each farmer and was treated as the dependent variable in the stepwise regression analysis procedure. The independent variables were such socio-economic characteristics as the farming system, the total and irrigated area of the farm, membership of a cooperative society and participation in village administration, and age, education, and income of the farmer; components of information-seeking behavior included use of the mass media (newspapers, radio, and television), use of the Internet, travel, and participation in farming events. The results of the study showed that the higher the socio-economic status (more frequent contact with extension services, higher education, ownership of land, etc.) and the greater the access to information, the greater the perceived importance of sustainable agricultural practices. It is concluded that if policy-makers and extension organizations concentrate on these factors, they are more likely to succeed in making farmers more favorably disposed toward sustainable agriculture.
Article
Conventional high-input agriculture gives rise to biological problems related to the breakdown of the selfsustaining recycling characteristic, normal to living systems, by reducing saprophytes, humus return and nitrogen fixing organisms. Thus, the system becomes increasingly dependent on greater inputs. In addition, reduced diversification often leads to an increase in plant and animal diseases, and pest and weed problems. These are countered by increased applications of manufactured inputs which may cause agro-industry pollution and further breakdown of the system. An alternative which may reduce or eliminate some of these problems is ecological agriculture.
Article
As part of the larger transition to a post-fossil-fuel era, major transformations of industrial agriculture can be expected to occur. This is not only because industrial agriculture is a major source of the unsustainability of industrial societies, but because it is itself unsustainable. Development of the types of regenerative and sustainable food and fibre systems that are needed will involve: (1) a restructuring and decolonizing of industrial agriculture; (2) the maintenance and enhancement of indigenous and traditional food systems; and (3) conceptual and value shifts towards systems approaches, contextual analysis by levels, and the use of health models rather than economic/productivity models as the basic evaluative criteria.
Article
The intensification and expansion of modern agriculture is amongst the greatest current threats to worldwide biodiversity. Over the last quarter of the 20th century, dramatic declines in both range and abundance of many species associated with farmland have been reported in Europe, leading to growing concern over the sustainability of current intensive farming practices. Purportedly ‘sustainable’ farming systems such as organic farming are now seen by many as a potential solution to this continued loss of biodiversity and receive substantial support in the form of subsidy payments through EU and national government legislation.
Article
This paper contains a literature review of the occupational injuries and ill-health in agriculture world-wide and a survey of the attempts that have been made to estimate the resulting economic and social costs. Agricultural workers suffer a wide variety of disorders as a result of their occupation. These range from minor (cuts, bruises) to more severe (deep wounds, fractures), permanent (amputation, spinal cord injury) and fatal injury. Ill-health as a result of contact with animals, micro-organisms, plant material dusts or chemicals are associated with certain types of agriculture. There is an underlying but unquantified incidence of pain, stress and injury as a result of ergonomic problems due to poor working procedures and conditions. Statistics from many countries or regions show that agriculture consistently has one of the highest accident and injury rates of the industrial sectors. There are many causes for the work related injury and ill-health in agricultural workers. In developed countries, tractors and other machinery cause a significant proportion of the accidents and are a major cause of occupational deaths. In less developed countries, accidents due to hand tools such as hoes, sickles and cutting instruments are most prevalent. Animals are a significant cause of injury and ill-health in many countries. Debilitating allergic reactions in the respiratory tract or the skin are caused by exposures to organic dusts, or by contact with allergenic plants in the field respectively. Where comparative data are available, occupational pesticide poisoning in agriculture is a small proportion (< 1–4%) of the total work related disorders. Because of the wide variety of occupational risks to agricultural workers, it is emphasised that if one type of agricultural practice is replaced by another then the risks from the alternative procedure need to be considered. If, for example, agrochemical pest control practices are replaced by methods involving the increased use of machinery, draught animals or manual operations, then an assessment of the resulting risks should be taken into account. Some of the economic costs of occupational injury and ill-health in agriculture can be quantified directly, such as medical costs, the cost of rehabilitation and loss of earnings. Other costs are more difficult to estimate such as loss of opportunity and income foregone for permanent and fatal injury and for the effect on a victim’s family. The estimation of the overall economic costs to farming communities and national agriculture requires further development. When one agricultural practice is replaced wholly or partly by another, for example agrochemical pest control by alternative control methods, then it is necessary to take into account the occupational health costs of the alternative procedure for realistic comparative assessment. There are a number of issues which require continued or increased attention by the relevant national and international authorities and by the agricultural industry. These include the improved collection and collation of occupational health statistics, a better understanding of the extent of ergonomic problems in agriculture, more realistic assessments of the cost of occupational injury and ill-health and the continued need to reduce occupational health disorders by appropriate training and education in agricultural practices and the use of agricultural equipment.
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