Praveen Dwivedi: Agri-Retail supply chain: Challenging the clichés
As a late entrant to the agriculture industry, I have looked at it from the perspective of how things can be changed, and I would like to challenge many of the clichés about this industry. When we look at the agri-retail supply chain, we get caught up with the word “supply”. In this supply chain, we must focus on the consumer rather than the producer. We tend to forget the consumer and his demands. If it was a freewheeling economy, the produce would be priced at the price at which it is supposed to be sold. The demand and supply of the equation, which determines the economic reality of any business, shows that there is relevance of why a particular commodity is being sold at a particular price at a particular point in time. If the produce is non seasonal and there is a demand for it, then it will obviously fetch the price demanded because the demand is much greater than the supply. This happens across all commodities, including foreign exchange. However, to echo a former agriculture minister, we want to play the global game in a very restrictive manner. The government’s concern about prices is exhibited in knee jerk reactions. That is why global practices, global market development, has not advanced in the agriculture industry.
