Value chain management under COVID-19: responses and lessons from grape production in India

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected several economic sectors in India, dragging many to the brink of survival. In particular, the already fragile horticulture industry is now facing a double burden of a weak value chain management system as well as perishability of produce (fresh fruits and vegetables), this pandemic season. Also, the strict enforcement of lockdown has altered both demand and supply factors, which in turn have shocked various linkages in the value chain of fresh fruits and vegetables. So, this paper dissects the value chain management of grapes and its processed products, namely juice, wine, and raisins in Maharashtra, the largest producer of grapes in India. For this, a value chain analysis (VCA) is carried out by computing the degree of value addition to uncover the rupture points caused by the pandemic as well as advocate policy measures to build a resilient system. The value chain analysis shows that post-COVID-19, the degree of value addition, has shot up for the intermediary agents, i.e., pre-harvest contractors, at the expense of the farmers. Using the insights from the VCA results plus the demand and supply shocks, various policy measures are elucidated to strengthen the grape value chain.

Analysis on the Factors Influencing the Behavior of Purchasing Enterprise Brand Fruits: Empirical Study Based on 312 Consumers in China

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and external environmental factors (including price, quality, safety, convenience, origin, etc.) [6,8,10,[15][16][17][18][19][20] on the behavior of purchasing brand fruits and vegetables is consistent with the existing researches. Different from the existing researches, this study demonstrates the influence of posttasting purchase and posttasting evaluation.…”

“…e factors that influence consumers' purchase behavior will change in different situations. For example, COVID-19 has caused consumers to put forward higher requirements for the channels and safety of purchasing fruits and vegetables [15][16][17]. is study will dynamically adjust and explore the factors influencing consumers' purchase behavior, which is one of the research directions in the future.…”

“…Consumers are more likely to purchase food online that can reduce the spread of COVID-19 [15,16]. is new shopping trend led to the evolution of modern value chains for fresh agricultural produce [17]. Furthermore, in terms of the safety of fruits and vegetables, consumers have a low awareness of the quality and safety, such as pesticide residues [18,19].…”

Digital Agriculture: The Future of Indian Agriculture

“…Investor interest is also being piqued by financial services, quality management, and traceability. In their research, [15] emphasised that, given the circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, digitising agriculture value chains has become imperative in order to facilitate communication among the various stakeholders involved. This entails putting consumers and growers in direct contact by enabling services like digital payments to develop a more dependable and forward-thinking agricultural sector.…”

Influence of Growing Region on Targeted Anthocyanin Profile, Color, Phenolics, and Antioxidant Activity of Grape Juice

“…The grape is an important cultural, economic, and ecological crop with the largest acreage of fruit crops globally [5]. Grapes are a delicate, highly perishable fresh fruit with numerous reported health advantages [6]. "Consequently, during harvest and distribution, grapes have a high incidence of depletion.…”