Discuss major issues with supply chain management in indian Agriculture? Suggest some of the reforms need to be taken in supply chain management to double the farmers income?

Supply Chain can be understood as a value-creation process, wherein all firms in a chain, link and align, to enhance the value of the chain as a whole(Porter, 1985). The process of value creation is achieved by firm operations, integration of processes, logistics and maintenance of products through quality control. 

Supply Chain Management in agriculture is defined as “The management of movement of agricultural commodities, from the farm through the rural and urban markets to reach the doorsteps of end consumer- both household and industrial consumer; consists of various players, starting from the agricultural producer, through the middle men, commission agents and traders, the bulk purchasers or procurers, millers or intermediary processor, warehousing agents, or cold storage space providers and transporters, through whom 

material finally reaches either retail distribution system for raw consumption or the food processing industries where it goes through the value addition processes and moves througha distinct and a separate supply chain to reach the targeted consumers”

In India, it is reported that approximately 60 percent of quality is lost while produce is transported from the farm to the final consumer in fresh produce supply chain. The efficient supply chain management of practices in fresh produce supply chain certainly benefits in terms of low price to customers and high revenues toproducers.

Issues with supply chain management in Agriculture is :

A) Improper warehouses: The farmer is compelled to find substitutes for warehousing in the villages due to lack of proper infrastructural facilities for storage. The substitutes for warehousing for fresh produce are pits, mud-vessels, „Kutcha‟ storehouses, etc, which leads to a considerable amount of wastage (up to two percent). Thus, there is substantial increase in supply of produce in the village market and the farmers are not able to get a 

fair price for their produce. 

b) Lack of grading and standardisation: Agricultural produce is not graded properly by variety. The practice of heaping all qualities together known as „Dara sales‟ and selling as one single lot discourages farmers who have better qualities because there is no assurance of a better price. Thus, the practice of grading and standardisation should be encouraged to ensure use of superior quality seeds and varieties. 

c) Inadequate transport facilities: Inadequate transport facilities to the markets show the need for improved transportation. Bullock carts and auto rickshaws are the common means of transportation for farmers in villages which makes transport of perishable produce very difficult to far off places, resulting in low profits.

d) Presence of a large number of middlemen:Agricultural marketing involves a large 

number of middlemen who share the profits of the farmer. Farmer‟s share in consumer‟s price is reduced to 39 percent in case of vegetables and fruits 34 percent while 46.5 percent will go to the intermediaries.

e) Inadequate market information: The information on market trends and pricing is inadequate despite the governments‟ efforts to provide information by radio broadcasts and TV telecasts. Most of the time the information that the farmer receives is not 

adequate to take the decision to hold or to sell the produce it being near impossible for farmers to obtain information on exact market prices in different markets thus relying on the price quoted by the traders which is less than the price of government.

F) Inadequate credit facilities: Poverty has led many Indian farmers to sell off the produce immediately after harvest at a very low price. The forced sale‟ can be avoided by providing adequate credit facilities which enable the farmer to wait for a better price. Such a credit facility prevents farmers from forced loans from money lenders, and pledging of produce to the traders at a price lower than the market value.