Assessing and minimizing the wastages in perishable cargo : case of vegetables supply chain in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Agriculture is the most common livelihood of Sri Lankans, and almost eighty (80) different varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown in Sri Lanka’s in varied agro‐climatic areas.Sri Lanka produces around 710,000 metric tons of vegetables and around 540,000 metric tons of fruits annually. Most of the population involved in agriculture is small producers or home garden growers whose individual extent of land does not exceed a hectare. Fruits and vegetables are damaged due to inappropriate methods of picking, packing, storage and transportation. A considerable portion of products are perished during this process. Insufficient information flow is another major handicap. Therefore, it is very important to study the whole supply chain and find out the necessary remedies to develop Sri Lankan fruit and vegetable industry. Agricultural wastage is a country wide issue in Sri Lanka. According to the past researches done, there are over 40% in fruits and over 30% in vegetables been wasted while passing through the supply chain from farm-gate to the final consumer. Common supply chain for fruits and vegetables can be identified in several stages in the traditional supply chain namely farm-gate to collector, collector to whole-seller and whole-seller to the retailer. The collection and distribution of vegetable in the country is largely based on several economic centers situated across the country which were established with intuitive judgments about the locations suitability interns of transport and distribution optimization attributes. Nevertheless, the mode of transport is mainly by trucks and fruits and vegetable are packed in to plastic sacks by the supplier or intermediaries. As a result of handling, transportation, and distribution, it is reported that there is a considerable portion of fruits and vegetables are wasted. The present research focuses on assessing the wastage levels, due to transport, handling, and identify a strategy that will minimize the wastages in perishable cargo supply chain in Sri Lanka. Objectives of this research are, to identify the factors that lead to high wastage of vegetables, to assess the level of vegetable wastage in the perishable supply chain, and to identify strategies to minimize wastage during transport of vegetables in Sri Lanka. This study identified sample of 100 retailers to examine the supply chain of fruits and vegetables in identical numbers. Samples were drawn from the Manning Market in Colombo, Welisara Economic Center, Meegoda Economic Center, Dabulla Economic Center, Narahenpita Economic center and other vegetables Markets in Colombo and suburbs. The sample consisted the farmers, collectors, traders. Primary data were collected by a questionnaire consisted of fifty questions and pocket discussions and interviews. Face to face interactions and other communicative channels were used to collect information on the vegetable supply chain. According to the survey results, 65% of the supply is directly transported from farm gate to Colombo or city whole sale vendor. The average waste per Kilo of fruits and vegetables is higher in which comes through shops. Leafy vegetables total productions come from the farm gate. Higher proportion of the vegetable samples, were packed into net bags and poly sack bags. Loading method of the poly sack bags in the vehicle were identified as one poly bag on top of the other thus the ventilation to the cargo in the bags were minimal. Lowest wastage for fruits and vegetables were identified as packing into cardboard boxes. The study revealed that lowest wastage exits when vegetables come directly from farm gate. Further it was identified that the wastage levels will depend on the nature of vegetables. More wastage can occur for soft vegetables when transported in large Lorries. Distance is not a significant factor to the wastage in Sri Lankan vegetable supply chain. Direct transportation from farm gate to the Colombo vendors is another advantage to reduce the wastage. When vegetables are transported through intermediate vendors, the wastage will increase. Number of additional handling will impact such wastage in this chain. Therefore, this research identifies the importance of introducing advanced handling methods and usage of new equipments main recommendations. Further the study discusses the importance of the effective use of the equipment, structural changes should be carried out inside the shops, store areas and loading & unloading bays to facilitate direct cargo loading process into the vehicles to minimize wastages.