Identifying factors determining the quality of mango: a design of experiments assessment

Purpose - Due to the recent disruptions caused by COVID-19, global supply chains are stress tested. The affected supply chains have interfered with market tonnage prices for the yield of perishable products like mangoes that are highly dependent on their quality. This research, through empirical findings, thus determines and comprehends the factors influencing mango quality (size). Design/methodology/approach - A framework is developed for finding the potential factors of quality building on the previous literature and studies on the available topic. The data collection included face-to-face interviews comprising 240 farmers, hired managers and preharvest contractors in India's Jangaon, Rangareddy and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri districts of Telangana state. The data analysis is done using multiple regression, and the outcomes form the basis of the design of the experiments model. Findings - The empirical insights support that the quality of mango is affected by factors such as the number of picking cycles, the cost of fertilizer, the variety of fertilizers used, the variety of pesticides used and pesticide application frequency. The direct implications are the benefit to farmers in improving mango quality and maximizing profit per yield cycle. Research limitations/implications - To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first research that has specifically focused on holistically improving the quality(size) of mangoes. Originality/value - The findings contribute to the perishable supply chain literature, specifically to the mango study, to comprehensively showcase the factors impacting the quality of mangoes and provide guidance to farmers regarding orchard practices.