Agricultural Products Supply Research Articles

Research on the Hierarchy of Agricultural Product Supply Chain Based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

The stability and elasticity of the agricultural product supply chain are of great significance for agricultural development. Based on the introduction of the connotation of agricultural product supply chain, combined with the current operation mode, development status, demand changes at each node of the supply chain, and product form changes of China's agricultural product supply chain, the evaluation index system of agricultural product supply chain is selected on the basis of existing research. Through the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method based on analytic hierarchy process to perform certain operations, and combined with practical cases for application analysis, verifying the feasibility of the evaluation model also has certain practical significance. Enterprises can thus understand the weak parts of supply chain elasticity and make improvements.

Does blockchain-based traceability system guarantee information authenticity? An evolutionary game approach

While blockchain-based traceability systems in agricultural product supply chains (APSCs) have the potential to improve operational efficiency and food safety, little literature examined the risk of traceability information being falsified before it is recorded on the blockchain. Therefore, using an evolutionary game model, this paper studies the potential falsification risk in the blockchain-based traceability system for agricultural products. The model focuses on the evolutionary path of two key stakeholders: farmers who may falsify information and blockchain platforms that may verify the authenticity of the information. Factors including government supervision and market demand are also considered. The results demonstrate that: (1) the evolutionary stable strategy of the game model depends on whether both stakeholders can benefit from information falsification after taking into account related costs and penalties; (2) when the purchasers' preference for product freshness and well-known places of origin is sufficiently high, farmers will consistently engage in the information falsification, with the platform allowing such behavior to persist; (3) if the downstream stakeholders attach importance to the authenticity of traceability information recorded on the blockchain, this will reduce farmers' willingness to falsify information and increase blockchain platforms’ willingness to verify authenticity; these two effects can lead to situations where the optimal evolutionary stable strategy exists. Based on the results, we discuss the details of blockchain-enabled audits to curb information falsification. The findings of this paper call attention to preventing falsification and developing guidelines for blockchain technology adoptions in APSCs.

The Rigor Revolution: New Standards of Evidence for Impact Assessment of International Agricultural Research

We take stock of the major changes in methodology for studying the impacts of international agricultural research, focusing on the period 2006–2020. Impact assessment of agricultural research has a long and recognized tradition. Until the mid-2000s, such assessments were dominated by a model of demand for and supply of agricultural products in partial equilibrium. The basic ideas for this approach were sketched out by Griliches more than half a century ago. We describe the implications of heightened standards of evidence for good practice in three domains of research design: causal inference, valid measurement, and statistical representativeness. We document advances in each of these domains and review recent evidence that demonstrates the lessons that can be learned from adopting these practices, emphasizing the importance of evidence at-scale, the need to consider portfolios of innovations at a national level, and the challenges of accounting for innovations that are promoted as bundles.

Triple-hurdle model analysis of aquaculture farmers’ multi-stage willingness to participate in green and healthy aquaculture actions in China: based on ecological cognition and environmental regulation perspectives

Implementing the action of green and healthy aquaculture is an important measure to ensure the stable and secure supply of crucial agricultural products and promote the green and high-quality development of the fishing industry in China. This article divides the willingness to participate in the green and healthy aquaculture actions (GHAAs) into three stages: whether to participate, mode of participation, and degree of participation based on the dynamic decision-making process of the farmers. Based on micro survey data of aquaculture households in Zhejiang Province, this paper applies the Triple-Hurdle model to analyze the effect of ecological cognition and environmental regulation on multi-stage participation willingness, with a particular emphasis on exploring the differences in participation willingness between two types of green aquaculture methods, traditional and emerging technologies. The results show that ecological cognition has a positive promoting effect on the willingness to participate in actions and the degree of willingness to participate in both types of technological methods, the constrained environmental regulation policies significantly positively affects the degree of willingness to participate in traditional technological methods, and the incentive environmental regulation policies significantly positively affects the willingness to choose emerging technological methods and its degree of willingness to participate. The analysis of the regulatory effect of environmental regulation shows that constrained regulation policies can enhance the willingness of high ecological cognition farmers to participate in actions, while incentive policies are helpful for high ecological cognition farmers’ adoption willingness of emerging green production technology. In addition, there are scale and intergenerational differences in the effects of ecological cognition and environmental regulation on farmers’ willingness to participate in actions.

LONG- AND SHORT-TERM EVOLUTION OF SALE PRICES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN UKRAINE IN 2010-2021

The price is an indicator that accumulates information about the cost of production, balance between supply and demand, its quality evaluation by consumers, the variety of offer by manufacturers and other characteristics. The price is formed not only as a mathematically calculated value depending on the cost price or accompanying costs, but it considers the market situation. Prices on agricultural products are influenced by such industry specific as production seasonality.
 The source data base was analyzed to study prices evolution for some agricultural products in Ukraine. In particular, the features of changes in price indicators were revealed and described for fruit, berries, potatoes, grains, legumes, and oil crops.
 Vegetable price data set was analyzed to reconstruct evolution of price fluctuations for the period of January 2010 - December 2021. Decomposing method was applied to extract trend, seasonal and random components from time series. It allowed to build short- and long-term tendencies on the base of its fluctuations. A multiplicative model was approximated to understand dynamics of price index and reveal its behavior in impact circumstances of nature and economic factors. Price fluctuations for agricultural products is presented monthly and in years. It helped to describe long-term trend of price evolution. Moreover, modelling let us to predict values for 2022 and 2023. Forecasted values were compared with factual data from official statistical sources. 
 According to results of analysis predicted dynamics almost completely repeated real tendency, in seasonality. Nevertheless, prices of 2022-2023 years were influenced by Russian invasion consequences. Prices soared over the predicted values. That happened because of destruction of the logistics for agricultural products supply, loss of farm assets, contamination of land with explosive substances, rise of inflation, increase of costs and demand on deficient goods, shortening of products and raw supply. At the same time, it is demonstrated that prices of products of so-called "borscht set" have been constantly increasing since 2013. That was caused by inflation and poor harvests. Mentioned factors led to that certain vegetables were imported from abroad.

Weak solution of non-Newtonian polytropic variational inequality in fresh agricultural product supply chain problem

Abstract In this article, we study a class of variational inequality problems with non-Newtonian polytropic parabolic operators. We introduce a mapping with an adjustable parameter to control the polytropic term, which exactly meets the conditions of Leray-Schauder fixed point theory. At the same time, we construct a penalty function to transform the variational inequality into a regular parabolic initial boundary value problem. Thus, the existence is treated with a Leray-Schauder fixed point theory as well as a suitable version of Aubin-Lions lemma. Then, the uniqueness and stability of the solution are analyzed.

Complex Evolution Game and System Dynamics Simulation on the Impact of Coevolution on the Stability of the Fresh Agricultural Products Green Supply Chain

Although optimization of a fresh agricultural products supply chain has been widely studied, not much attention was paid to the impact of coevolution on the stability of such a supply chain, especially in the green development of such a supply chain. In this paper, based on the synergy theory and by considering the green development of the supply chain, with logistic model deduction of the trading volume of the supply chain as the system order parameter, system dynamics simulation is performed, showing the influence of the coevolution mechanism of various subsystems and the complex evolution game process on the stability of the supply chain. These results indicate that excessive coevolution among subsystems is not conducive to the supply chain when it enters a stable and orderly state. Only when the coevolution ability is controlled within a certain range can each subsystem achieve maximum profit. At the same time, the simulation results demonstrate the positive impact of coevolution on the stability of the supply chain. Sensitivity analysis shows that environmental factors such as the recycling rate of rotten products and the levels of government regulation and environmental ethics regulation have a positive impact on the stability of the supply chain, for which the larger the climate impact factor is, the less conducive it is to the stability. This research report provides some guidance for the sustainable development of the fresh agricultural products supply chain.

Research on Evaluation of Financial Risks in Agricultural Product Supply Chains Based on An Improved DEMATEL Method

In order to improve the rationality, accuracy, and timeliness of decisions on financial risks in agricultural product supply chains, it is necessary to evaluate and control these risks sensibly. In this paper, research is conducted on financial risk factors in agricultural product supply chains, and on this basis a financial risk evaluation index system for such supply chains is built in four identified dimensions – credit risk, market risk, pledge risk, and supply chain relation risk. Next, the weights of risk indexes are measured by means of combined weighting based on subjective F-AHP method and objective CRITIC method. The final risk weight coefficients are then derived with EDAS method. With the aid of an improved DEMATEL method, the agricultural product supply chain financial risk factors are analyzed, and comprehensive impact degrees of different risk factors in agricultural product supply chains are calculated. The calculation results show that financial risks in agricultural product supply chains are highly influenced by cooperation level, performance record, and financial standing and repayment history of borrowing organization. Based on the findings of this paper, appropriate financial risk management and control measures can be developed in light of the key risk factors identified in agricultural product supply chains, thereby providing a valuable reference for financial risk control in agricultural product supply chains.

Role of Customs and Tariff Regulation in Foreign Trade with China (by the Example of Regions of the Siberian Federal District)

The current situation in the world dictates new rules for conducting foreign economic cooperation for Russia. Russia has fully deployed the vector of cooperation to the East. Over the past decades, China has been the main trading partner in this direction. The article analyzes the foreign trade of the regions of the Siberian Federal District with China. The subjects of the Siberian Federal District are strategically important territories for foreign economic transactions due to their geographical location and economic potential. The regions of the Siberian Federal District, according to their commodity specialization, deliver to China: timber, products of the fuel and energy complex, food products and agricultural raw materials. China imports machinery and equipment, products of the chemical industry to the regions of the Siberian Federal District. Given the desire of our state to increase the share of exports of value-added products, the role of customs and tariff regulation in achieving these goals is highlighted. So, using the example of the export of the commodity group "Wood and pulp and paper products" to China by the regions of the Siberian Federal District and the level of export customs duties, it is shown that there has been a redistribution in the commodity structure of timber exports from unprocessed timber in favor of processed. An analysis of China's weighted average import tariff rate showed that the principle of tariff escalation is applied to Russia: rates are low for raw materials, and high for value-added products. At the same time, the level of the weighted average import tariff rate in relation to Russia for many commodity items is lower than in relation to the whole world. It is proposed to increase the volume of production and supply of consumer goods and agricultural products, taking into account the solution of logistical problems.

NECESSITY OF EDUCATION ABOUT IMPORTANCE AND POSSIBILITIES OF INSURANCE, FINANCING AND INNOVATIONS IN AGRICULTURE

Education is necessary for the development of all activities, and therefore for the development of agriculture. For the successful development of agricultural sector, in the contemporary conditions, an adequate agricultural policy is needed, which will encourage, through the series of measures and instruments, insurance, financing, introduction of innovations in agriculture, as well as many other elements important for sustainable development of agriculture. Since these are very dynamic factors, permanent education on such complex issues is necessary, in order to be sufficiently informed and knowledgeable farmers and consumers of agricultural products about all advantages and disadvantages of their business or consumer decisions. Bearing that in mind, within this research, the most important aspects of insurance, financing and introduction of innovations in agricultural sector are analysed, while the analysis of the aforementioned topics focuses on the necessity of education on these important issues. Anyway, education significantly determines the quantity and structure of agricultural production, and therefore the supply of agricultural products. Additionally, it significantly affects the shaping of demand for agri-food and other agricultural products. Accordingly, the aim of this research is to point out the relevance of insurance, quality financing and innovation in agriculture, with special emphasis on the role and importance of education for their application in the practice. The methods of description, comparison, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, generalization and historical method, are used in the paper. The most complex issues in the field of insurance, financing and innovative approaches in agriculture, which require adequate education, are presented schematically and illustrated with the table. The research results show that comprehensive education is really necessary when it comes to agriculture, which, like other activities, in the technical-technological and broader sense, is constantly improving and facing new challenges and requirements for sustainable development, i.e. balancing economic, ecological and social goals. Namely, it is observed in the paper that constant education must be an integral part of the modern approach to agricultural development, where the education about importance and possibilities of insurance, financing and introducing innovations, can provide the necessary knowledge and information to farmers and buyers of agricultural products. In the paper, it is concluded that the education, in various forms, can significantly motivate farmers to improve their business on a sustainable basis, and motivate consumers of agricultural products to opt for agricultural products that are at the same time acceptable in the economic-financial, ecological and the wider social context. It is extremely important in modern conditions, which are very complex and burdened with a number of global problems, such as climate changes, complicated international economic relations, health and other accompanying problems.

The influence of cultivated land transfer and Internet use on crop rotation

In the context of China’s digital transformation and agricultural modernization, exploring the impact of cultivated land transfer and Internet use on crop rotation holds significant importance for promoting sustainable use of cultivated land and ensuring the supply of agricultural products. This study utilizes an ordered logistic regression model to investigate this issue, based on a social survey of 489 households in Heilongjiang Province. Our findings reveal that (1) cultivated land transfer and Internet use both promote crop rotation, but cultivated land transfer is more efficient than Internet use. In addition, two-years cultivated land transfer are more effective than one-year, (2) The analysis of the mechanism indicates that both have the most significant promotion effect in the maize-soybean transition zone, and the promotion effect of cultivated land transfer is mainly observed in the older age group, while Internet use is mainly observed in the younger age group. As aging farmers become more critical, the role of cultivated land transfer does not change significantly, while the role of Internet use decreases. Furthermore, the interaction effect of cultivated land transfer and Internet use is not conducive to crop rotation in the maize-soybean transition zone, but it can facilitate crop rotation in older age groups.

Optimal design of agricultural insurance subsidies under the risk of extreme weather

Extreme weather events can pose a significant threat to the agricultural economy, and agricultural insurance serves as an effective tool to mitigate the risk. Motivated by the Chinese government agricultural policies, this study develops two theoretical models to analyze the full-cost insurance and the income insurance, and how should governments design insurance subsidies. Our results show that the government's optimal insurance subsidies under different insurance formats are closely related to the yield uncertainty and the production efficiency under the risk of extreme weather. When the production efficiency of the farmers is low, regardless of the subsidy level, the sufficient supply of the agricultural products can be guaranteed under full-cost insurance. However, when production efficiency is high, a lower subsidy level should be set under full-cost insurance, while a higher subsidy level is required under income insurance. Moreover, we find the optimal levels of the government insurance subsidies under different insurance formats may not always align with the interests of farmers. In the extension, we show that the government can maximize social welfare by ensuring the stable supply of agricultural products.

Research on the Current Situation and Optimization of Rural Logistics Development in the Post Poverty Alleviation Era

At present, China's poverty alleviation efforts are entering the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements. It is necessary to focus on "solving relative poverty", establish a long-term poverty alleviation mechanism, and prevent the occurrence of phenomena such as "returning to poverty after poverty alleviation" and "digital poverty alleviation". For impoverished areas, sustainable and stable agricultural product supply chains are the key to their current development. Rural logistics plays an important role in rural revitalization and rural economic development. Although there has been significant development in rural logistics, there are still problems such as untimely supply dispersion, high logistics costs, inconsistent supply chains, insufficient infrastructure, and the need to improve logistics service levels. This article analyzes the current situation of agricultural product logistics development and proposes optimization suggestions for rural logistics development, in order to establish a complete rural logistics system and establish a new logistics poverty alleviation system.

A differential game model research on dynamic pricing and coordination of fresh agricultural products supply chain based on freshness

For the problem of optimal dynamic pricing and coordination of fresh agricultural products supply chain, the differential equations related to freshness and market needs are constructed, and the optimal control theory is used to solve the optimal strategy under centralized and decentralized decision-making, i.e., optimal selling price and optimal preservation input. The equilibrium results under the two scenarios are also compared. The comparison finds that the decentralized scenario leads to low overall supply chain profits, based on which a two-part pricing contract is proposed to coordinate the supply chain operating companies. The results show that freshness effectiveness directly impacts pricing, and the centralized scenario does not necessarily lead to high prices for fresh produce due to the ‘double marginal effect’. the two pricing contracts can successfully coordinate the supply chain. The freshness effectiveness increases the supply chain coordination ability of fresh produce suppliers, while operational inefficiencies, on the contrary, decrease the coordination ability.

Profit-Sharing Contract of the Fresh Agricultural Products Supply Chain under Community Group Purchase Mode Considering Freshness Preservation Efforts

This article constructed a four-level fresh agricultural product (FAP) supply chain with a two-stage pricing strategy under a “community group purchase (CGP) platform + direct procurement from the FAP supplier” sales model. We investigate the influence of the CGP agency’s participation in the control strategy of FAP freshness preservation efforts on the profits of supply chain stakeholders. This article discusses the effects of the FAP supplier profit-sharing ratio, the CGP agency profit-sharing ratio, and consumers’ sensitivity to FAP freshness on the supply chain stakeholders’ freshness preservation efforts. Moreover, based on the fairness preference theory, this article designed a profit-sharing contract that involves the Nash bargaining game between the FAP supplier and the CGP agency as the supply chain coordination mechanism. Modeling results revealed that: (1) The CGP agency’s freshness preservation efforts increased total supply chain profits. (2) The FAP supplier profit-sharing ratio, CGP agency profit-sharing ratio, and consumers’ sensitivity to FAP freshness have a positive correlation to the profits of the FAP supply chain and promote the coordination of the supply chain. (3) Considering fairness preferences, with the increase in FAP suppliers’ business negotiating ability, their freshness preservation efforts and fairness utility both increased gradually, while the fairness utility of the CGP agency gradually decreased.

Research on Logistics Cost System of Agricultural Product Supply Chain Under E-Commerce Environment

Research on Logistics Cost System of Agricultural Product Supply Chain Under E-Commerce Environment

Spatiotemporal interaction pattern of the Beijing agricultural product circulation

Identifying the spatiotemporal interaction pattern of agricultural product circulation (APC) is crucial for agricultural resource adjustment and food security. Current studies are mostly based on static statistical data over an entire year or a specific period, which cannot describe the spatial pattern of APC and its seasonal variation on a fine spatiotemporal scale. Thus, this study extracts an APC trip chain based on national truck trajectory data and constructs the flow network of the Beijing APC with the city as the spatial unit and the season as the temporal unit. The spatial interaction pattern and seasonal variation in APC are then analyzed from the network spatial form, city node function role, and transportation corridors. The results are as follows: (1) Compared with methods based on static statistical data, the proposed method provides a more complete and refined depiction of the spatiotemporal interaction pattern of APC. (2) The flow network of the Beijing APC involves 316 cities in China, of which 143 cities play a major role with typical seasonal characteristics. These cities can be divided into perennial core cities, perennial major cities, core cities in winter-spring, major cities in winter-spring, core cities in summer-autumn, and major cities in summer-autumn, contributing 2.6%–40.3% to the Beijing APC. (3) There are 6 transportation corridors for the Beijing APC. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei corridor and coastal corridor contribute 53.5% and 12.8% of the annual supply, respectively, with a balanced supply in all seasons. The Beijing-Kunming corridor and Beijing-Guangzhou corridor contribute 14.3% and 9.0%, respectively, with much higher supplies in winter and spring. The northeast and northwest corridors contribute 7.3% and 3.3%, respectively, mainly in the summer and autumn. These results help deepen the understanding of agricultural product supply patterns and provide a reference for the design and optimization of agricultural product transportation routes.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY OF GRAIN PRODUCTION IN THE CONSUMER BASKET

The role and importance of the agricultural sector in ensuring the food security of the population on a global scale is increasing every day. In particular, wheat is one of the most common cereal crops. Wheat bread is highly valued for its taste, satiety and digestibility, the use of resources and opportunities available in our country to ensure a guaranteed supply of agricultural products to the population, further increase productivity and interest in the introduction of scientific achievements and modern approaches in the field is an urgent problem.

Optimization and Coordination of the Fresh Agricultural Product Supply Chain Considering the Freshness-Keeping Effort and Information Sharing

To solve freshness-keeping problems and analyse a retailer’s information sharing strategies in the fresh agricultural product supply chain (FAPSC), often confronted with challenges in keeping agri-products fresh in an uncertain market, we study an FAPSC via a decentralized mode in which the supplier or retailer exerts the freshness-keeping effort while the retailer decides its information sharing strategies regarding private demand forecasting. We consider a contract coordination mode including three incentive contracts, cost-sharing (cs), revenue-sharing (re) and revenue-and-cost-sharing (rc), to facilitate supply chain coordination. The results show that, as opposed to the case where the supplier takes on the freshness-keeping effort, the optimal freshness-keeping effort level, wholesale price and retail price are not only affected by the retailer’s information sharing strategy but also the freshness-keeping efficiency as the retailer exerts the freshness-keeping effort. Regarding the information sharing strategy, when the freshness-keeping effort is undertaken by the retailer, sharing information sometimes benefits the supplier; however, information sharing is never preferable for the retailer. Consequently, it is necessary to explore the supply chain coordination mode via effective incentive contracts which can improve the supplier and retailer’s profit. We also numerically analyze the effects of freshness-keeping efficiency on equilibrium decisions and expected profits in the decentralized mode, and the effects of the three contract parameters on the expected profits in equilibrium in the coordination mode.

Fresh keeping decision and coordination of fresh agricultural products supply chain under carbon cap-and-trade.

Considering the carbon emissions caused by the fresh-keeping of fresh agricultural products, this paper studied the rules of fresh-keeping decision-making in the two-echelon fresh agricultural product supply chain led by suppliers under the carbon cap-and-trade policy. In addition, we designed two contracts, cost-sharing contract and two-part pricing contract, to coordinate the supplier's fresh-keeping decision and the supply chain's revenue. The results show that: whether the carbon cap-and-trade policy is implemented or not, the higher the consumer's preference for freshness and the lower the price sensitivity coefficient of consumers, the more favorable it is for suppliers to improve their fresh-keeping efforts. Under the implementation of carbon cap-and-trade policy, suppliers' fresh-keeping efforts are only related to the carbon transaction price, not the carbon cap; the higher the carbon transaction price, the less the supplier's fresh-keeping efforts, but the more the supplier's income; the smaller the cost coefficient of carbon emission reduction and the larger the coefficient of carbon emission reduction, the more favorable it is for suppliers to increase their fresh-keeping efforts; both cost-sharing contract and two-part pricing contract can coordinate the supply chain of fresh agricultural products, but they have different application scope and coordination effect. These conclusions are of great significance to the operation and management of fresh agricultural products suppliers, the improvement of consumers' quality of life and the protection of ecological environment under carbon cap-and-trade.