Supply Chain Management of Food Grains in India

The supply chain of agriculturalAgricultural commoditiesCommodity in India is fraught with challenges. Not only the size of holdings are fragmented and small, they are dominated by marginal and small farmersFarmers, there is lack of scale of economiesEconomy, supply chain is laden by low standards of processing and value additionValue addition and there is shortage of marketing infrastructureInfrastructure. In the Indian scenario, the marketsMarket for wheat and riceWheat and rice are different as compared to other agricultural commoditiesCommodity as the governmentGovernment controls the rice and wheatWheat for balancing the value and nation’s food security. Participants in wheat and riceWheat and rice supply chain are input suppliers of seeds, fertilizers, manures, pesticides and insecticides, farmersFarmers, commission agents (Arhtiya), FCI (Food corporation of India), other governmentGovernment procurement corporations such as Markfed, Central Warehousing Corporation, large millers of wheat and riceWheat and rice, wholesalers and retailersWholesalers and retailers of processed grains and consumers. Input suppliers consist of major chemical producing companies, government distributors, wholesalerWholesalers and retailers, retailers, and even very small retail shops that sell small quantities of seed, fertilizer, manure and pesticide to peasants at the village level. The major producers of wheat and riceWheat and rice supply chain are in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. There is a clear cut relationshipRelationship between supply chain managementSupply chain management and rural developmentDevelopment, because mismanaged supply side creates an imbalance in demand and supply equilibrium which hampers their prevailing insufficient incomesIncome and ultimate means of livelihood. Some of these issues and governmentGovernment policyPolicy towards handling these challenges is discussed in this paper.