V: Lost In Transit

PROCUREMENT | Food is perishable, some of it even delicate. The faster the journey from farm to fork, the better the quality of the mouthful. Inefficient loading, bumpy, congested roads and rickety vehicles delay that process. But it suits the middlemen who create many layers of transaction between farmers and retailers and thrive on distress selling at each stage. The result is up to 10 percent of food loss due to transportation alone

Tehelka, 3 June, 2013

IMAGINE SPILLING and dropping almost half your lunch or dinner in taking it from the kitchen to the table, every day every meal. That is the predicament of the Indian farmer.

For efficient transportation of foodstuff from farm to retailers, the entire chain needs to be planned as an integrated system, taking into account the local conditions and engineering capability. It begins with loading. In less-developed countries like ours, where manual harvesting is predominant, produce is picked and piled in the field and loaded onto inadequate vehicles by hand, leading to bruising from the word go.

From farms to various markets and stores, transit takes place on poorly maintained, bumpy, congested roads, causing further damage. These eventually result in perishables being thrown away due to severe spoiling or suffering a substantial reduction in its shelf life. Even not easily perishable commodities, such as foodgrain, are not immune to the effect of bad roads and rickety vehicles. In Southeast Asia, transportation alone leads to 10 percent wastage of rice.

According to industry estimates, 25-30 percent of fruits and vegetables and 5-7 percent of foodgrain in India get wasted on the road. More than half of our 3.3 million-km-long road network is in bad condition and last-mile connectivity remains grossly inadequate. The mounting pressure on national highways — just 2 percent of the total road length — makes congestion and maintenance serious issues.

We have more than 4.13 lakh licensed traders and 2.14 lakh licensed commission agents who sell farm produce on farmers’ behalf for a cut. The goods often go through several such middlemen before reaching the retailer. As a result, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Indian farmers get only one-third of the total price paid by the final consumer, against two-thirds for farmers in nations with a higher share of organised retail.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation quoted a study by IMechE to claim that as much as 40 percent of all fruit and vegetables rot between grower and consumer in India due to lack of refrigerated transport, poor roads, inclement weather and corruption. 

It observes that controlling and reducing the level of wastage is frequently beyond the capability of the individual farmer, distributor or consumer, since it depends on market philosophies, security of power supply, quality of roads and the presence or absence of transport hubs.

TEHELKA talks to apple growers in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh who suffer bad roads and the tyranny of local or Delhi-based middlemen and have no choice other than distress-selling of their produce. We also bring you the success story of the e-Choupal initiative in Madhya Pradesh, which has enabled farmers to reach the buyers directly by eliminating intermediaries. This ensures better quality of produce and higher farm income, and the buyer also benefits from lower transaction costs.

Click to read: Derailing the applecart  |  Market gyan at e-chaupal