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| Day 4 - Session 1: Harvesting Methods, Post Harvest Activities – value addition, packing and storage |
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Speaker: Udaya Kumar, GM, Spencer’s
 Mr. Udaya Kumar is the pioneer in fruit and vegetable marketing in organised retail in India. He recounted a particular experience that opened his eyes to the challenges of marketing farm produce. He had sold 970 kg of chillies for Rs. 1.9 a kg in the market one morning but had forgotten to set aside one kilo for his home. He rushed to a vegetable vendor in Kushalnagar and found that in retail it cost no less than Rs. 16 a kilo. This made him determined to understand how farmers could earn a better share of the consumer rupee. He spoke of the supply chain in fruit and vegetables in particular and explained how his firm has worked to ensure low external input and organically produced F&V reach their stores. The entire supply chain – from daily indents, picking, quality control at the farm, packing, transport and arrival at the stores from Spencer’s collection centres was described. He explained the need to identify the source of produce and ingredients in organic farming. The different quality parameters followed at the farm, the retailer and by the consumer were contrasted to stress on the need for value addition at the farm level itself.
Quality for F&V is considered under
A: Sensory – (1) appearance - size, weight, volume, shape, colour, sheen and visual defects; (2) texture – firm, soft, smooth, juice, fibre, touch and crisp and (3) flavour – sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent.
B: Non-Sensory: (1) Nutritive value – carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, etc. and (2) Safety value – presence of harmful compounds, adulterants, toxicity, contaminants, etc.
Value addition through careful quality control at the farm level itself thus leads to better price realisation and removing the several intermediaries allows good products to be reasonably priced for the consumer. A Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism has been introduced for organic produce in Spencer’s – where the produce always commands a premium price over conventionally grown ones and an MSP during glut periods – the MSP being lower than the maximum affordable price for a customer. The speaker urged the participants to understand the finances involved in farming so that they can understand pricing of products. He also felt that marketing of products would not be a challenge if farmers also took more initiative in reaching out to the organised market (like having a website or linking with groups for better bargaining).
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