Aim and Objective of this study:
As the Indian population is increasing, the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables is also increasing. Owing to the perishable nature and very short shelf life, these items require storage and transportation facilities in order to reach to the customer in fresh state. This requires a considerable amount of effort from the involved parties. The entire chain is fraught with issues like lack of transparency in pricing (at the farmers' end), dominance of traders, weak links in supply chain, etc. This leads to loss of revenue to the farmer and increased additional costs to the other supply chain partners, which ultimately enforces the final consumer to bear extra burden on his pocket. Since organized retail has started showing interest in fresh fruit and vegetable markets and has already entered into the market with huge investments, the issues involved in this supply chain have changed dramatically and are influencing not only the supply chain partners but also the whole agriculture sector in India.
India is witnessing rapid changes in retailing of fruits and vegetables. Domestic market for both traditional and exotic fruits and vegetables is increasing. Indians spend more than 50% of income on food items-more of fruits and vegetables.
But this industry is facing major challenges in the form of unavailability of fresh and quality fruits and vegetables, its supply chain suffers from maximum inefficiency and in spite of the fact that India is the 2nd largest producer of Fruits and vegetables it still face problems in easy procurement and supply.
Hence, it is important to understand how price changes affect demand for various fruits.
Need and Importance of this Study:
The market for fresh fruits is a short term market. The skyrocketing price of fruits have forced changes the lifestyles of a majority of the middle and low income group people in India.
Rising prices of vegetables, and now fruits, are
References: 3 Government of India: Planning Commission: Ninth Five Year Plan (l997-2002): Development Goals, Strategy and Policies, Vol. L.