Planning the Planting, Harvest, and Distribution of Fresh Horticultural Products

Many significant advances have been made in agriculture over the past century; we now have the ability, in theory, to feed the entire world population. Nonetheless, “there still remain great hunger, health and environmental concerns remaining to be addressed” (Hazell and Wood 2008). These are not problems that can be solved simply by increasing agricultural production (Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2006), especially considering the environmental issues that if left unchecked could adversely affect food supply in the future (M.E.A. 2005). Even though increasing agricultural yields and developing better varieties have great importance, a significant breakthrough can be made through better management of agricultural supply chains. The potential for better resource efficiency should not be overlooked, especially in view that one-third of the food produced for human consumption is estimated to be lost or wasted globally; some of the loss can be attributed to a lack of coordination of the different actors of the supply chain (Gustavsson et al. 2011). Thus, the issue of how to efficiently meet the demand with the production available is of utmost importance when high levels of perishability are present in the underlying product, as it is the case in fresh produce. For this reason the planning of supply chain will play an increasingly key role in the definition of those products that are successfully marketed.