THE EDITORIAL

Address,Living in an era of technological advances , one of thesix survival rules of business is “ to aim for free, perfectand now” which means providing customers with highquality and cheap products as early as possible. ThoughR&D provides for quality it is with a well establishedSupply Chain that one can achieve reduction in cost andtimely delivery.In light of this fact we have considered taking up SupplyChains as the subject matter for this issue.An extensive study has been carried out by the studentsto analyze the extent of wastage involved in the supplychain of tomatoes.We also bring to you an exclusive interview with Mr.Rajeev Mishra, BDM, Panalpina World Transport Ltd.Highlighting various facets of supply chain in theBiotechnology Industry.An attempt has also been made by the students tointerpret the aspects of Mergers & Acquisitions at thenational and the international level in a two part series.In the BT news section we take up an ethical issueregarding Designer Babies.We also present before you one of the 12 part series of notable CSR initiatives. The article titled ‘Back toSociety‘ this time covers the initiative by PRAJindustries, Pune for effective waste management.Alongwith this a section on PUMBA and its latesthappenings has been included.Your feedback and Suggestions are welcome atthepumbagazette@gmail.com

“A capacity and taste for reading gives access towhatever has already been discovered by others”

--Abraham Lincoln

Sincerely Yours,

Chief Editor:

Queeny Bubna, MBA-BT (Sem II)(The PUMBA Gazette Team)(The detailed project report shall be provided onenquiry. Kindly send in your enquiries atthepumbagazette@gmail.com)

CONTENTS

•

Cover Story

--Moving Tomatoes

•

Articles/Analysis

--Merge & Emerge

•

Back to Society

--An Initiative by PRAJ

•

BT News

--Designer Baby

•

Candid Talk

--An Interview with Mr. Rajeev Mishra

•

PUMBA News

--Reminiscence ‘09--Seminar by Mr. Joshua--100% Summer Placements

Moving Tomatoes

India is an agrarian economy with agriculture contributing 20%to the GDP, feeding a billion people, and employing 66% of thetotal workforce in India. Aided by the Green Revolution, India’sagricultural productivity has improved and make her self-sufficient. However it is a matter of immense concern that alarge amount of agricultural produce is being wasted due toimproper handling and storage. The product wastage anddistribution at various stages depends upon the length of thesupply chain. It also decides the amount of money flow in it.Tomato, being a highly perishable product, an attempt wasmade by students of PUMBA to analyze the various stages of its supply chain, quantify the wastage at each stage anddetermine the possible causes of wastage.The research was exclusively carried out in areas where theproduction and selling of tomatoes takes place on a largescale. Pune was considered as the central market. Along withit nearby rural places like Narayangaon, Baramati, Sangli etcwere also included in the study. The various elements involvedin the supply chain at these locations were studied extensively.Stratified random sampling was followed .The personnelconsidered for the study was the farmers, traders andmerchants.The survey revealed that there are three commercial channelsfor tomatoes: traders, government-mandated markets(

mandis

), and food processing industries. Also the farmersretain a small amount for personal consumption. Thedistribution system varies among states and districts, so doesthe percentage of produce going through each channel. But onan average 80 - 85% of tomatoes are processed throughtraders and

mandis

. The Agricultural Products Marketing Actintroduced the concept of

mandis

to ensure transparency in thesystem. The operation of the

Mandi

includes transporting theproduce to the market, quality inspection, auction, bagging andweighing, and monetary transactions.

Supply Chain of TomatoesRESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The supply chain in case of perishable products is inefficient asfar as the wastage is concerned and large amount (approx30%) is wasted in transportation, handling and storage. Thewastage in case of farmer is more from handling (Fig.1)However, at trader level, the major source of wastage istransportation system (Fig. 2) and at the retailer level, it’s thestorage system (Fig. 3). It was found that the wastage in case

of all sources ranged from 3-9 % of the total produce. Themean of wastage at handling, transportation and storage levelfor all three stages is approximately equal to 2%. The quantityof wastage at different stages or through different sources ismore or less the same. No matter what precautions are taken,some amount of wastage is imminent at each stage of thesupply chain. Thus there is always an element of regret for theproducer or the person who bears the responsibility for wastage. To reduce wastage farmers mostly harvest before theproduce is completely mature. The left over stock is either soldat cheap rates or thrown off.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Grading on the basis of the quality, shelf life, stage of maturity of fruit etc. should be introduced in thesystem to avoid wastage.2. Demand and price at various markets should beeffectively communicated to the farmers. Initiativeslike e-choupal should be encouraged.3. Traders should employ good vehicles along with anefficient carriage system.4. Retailers should conduct proper demand forecastingand accordingly stock the product. They should alsoinvest more in storage facilities such as refrigeration.5. Future trading should be used to maximize profits.Compiled by:

Bhalchandra Langhi, Kunal Borse, Monish Babariya,Pankaj Kalamkar, Ravikiran Tamhane, Suryakant Bhondve, SwapnilGawande, Umesh Daberao (MBA-BT, Sem II)