Potato supply chain

Abstract

The paper has been written with the motive of trying to understand the factors resulting in the fluctuation in the prices of potatoes and the resulting inefficiencies, hence, coming up with a solution in the form of a business model to address these issues. The study was conducted taking a sample supply chain of potato from Jalandhar in Punjab from Hassan in Karnataka. The basic assumption of the model is that household consumption pattern more or less remains the same and changes slightly according to seasonality. The research was conducted by visiting farmers in Hassan and telephonic interview of those in Punjab. Due to time constraints, research is kept qualitative in nature. As a result of the research, a business model has been created that can partially address the problem of fluctuation in prices of vegetables. The report starts with basic facts of the potato at a global level and then leading to talk about the important qualities of potatoes including varieties. This further talks about the most important element that is value chain and the methodology followed. This is followed by problems and recommendations.