Analysis of Sources of Fruit Wastages in Retail outlets in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

India is the second largest producer of overall fruits. India produces over 46 million tonnes of fruits accounting for around 10% of the world's production. In spite of being a major producer of fruits, nearly 72% of fruits are wasted in India due to poor facility or absence of storage, logistics and processing support. With a high percentage of waste of fruits, the value loss could be imagined. Minimizing wastage at the processing level has been studied by the same researcher in his previous study. Now the researcher extended this study to identify the sources and minimize the wastages in both organized and un-organized fruits and vegetable retail markets. Moreover, retail outlets of fruits and vegetables are more dependent on cold storage, logistics and distribution, this study includes the same to identify the source of wastages. Analysis of sources of wastage of fruits in retail markets and cold storage is undertaken to suggest ways out to minimize this loss and improve the return for both agriculture and retail vendors. This study also helps to minimize the cost of fruits and vegetables so that consumer too gets benefitted. This research is confined to both organized and un-organized retail outlets and their distribution systems and cold storage units in Tamilnadu, a leading producer of fruits and vegetables in India. India ranks first in the world with an annual output of 32 MT fruits, about 8% of the world's fruit production; also is the second largest producer of vegetables (ranks next to China) and accounts for about 15% of the world's production of vegetables. The current production level is over 71 million MT (1). But the real challenge starts after the production. More than 72 percent of the vegetable and fruits are wasted in every year in the absence of proper retailing, storage and other infrastructure facilities (2). The sector is constrained by widespread fragmentation in the supply chain, low productivity levels, and huge post harvest losses arising out of inadequate storage, cold chain and transport infrastructure, logistics and supply chain management. Only organized and traditional retailing will ultimately drive the growth of the fruits and vegetable sector in the country.