Conference on food supply chain management

BANGALORE: “In order to increase agricultural productivity, we need to inform and educate farmers first,” said Professor N Viswanadham, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.Inaugurating the conference on ‘Farm to Fork: Best Practices in Agri and Food Chain Supply’ organised by Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) here on Wednesday, he said, “There are four elements of agriculture that serve the eco-system: land, water, power and institutions. In addition to these elements, affordability, availability and awareness are other areas where innovations can be brought about in terms of supply chain management.”Talking about ITC’s E-Choupal, a practice in agro and food supply chain, divisional chief executive, ITC agri business division S Sivakumar said, “Though the E-Choupal practice has its presence across 40,000 villages in the country, it is not on a satisfactory level. Basic flaws exist. Yet, as the purchase is made from the farmers directly, the product identity is preserved through the chain.” He called upon BCIC to plan for implementing the E-Choupal practice in Karnataka as well.Meanwhile, when asked about further expansion plans, Sivakumar said that the next venture was a “ Choupal Fresh” for fruits and vegetables. “We have already started this as a pilot project in Hyderabad,” he said. Regional technology director, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Dr Rinka Banerjee and head of Food Bazaar, Future Group, Dupindera Sandhu presented a paper on the best practices in food pocessing and manufacturing.