Allison Chew ARE 157 Analysis Assignment The Journey of the Onion Storage During The Economist's time

documenting the ourney of an onion from a field in the heart of onion country to the consumer in !um"ai# the $rocess "egins with %un aram De&'ar# an elderly farmer( After De&'ar har&ests his cro$ of onions on his 1) acre $lot of land# he then stores the onion in a wooden "as'et inside a shed( This ste$ in the su$$ly chain is crucial for maintaining the cro$ and $re&enting s$oilage# or 'ee$ing the $rices low( *owe&er since De&'ar is without the use of modern technology such as cold storage# his onions $erish inside the wooden "as'et in the shed within 15 days( This small time window for the onions to ma'e it from the farm to the mar'et# results in a rate of $erisha"le cro$s( Therefore De&'ar is actually selling a smaller $ercentage of his cro$s than he originally har&ested( This shortage results in higher $rices down the su$$ly chain( +ater in the su$$ly chain# once the onions ha&e reached !um"ai# retailers "elie&e that cold storage is either too e,$ensi&e# or will destroy the fla&or of the onions( Therefore $rices are mar'ed u$ another -./ to offset the amount of onions that are thrown away due to damage or s$oilage( Transportation Another fault in the su$$ly chain of the onion is trans$ortation( Once the onions lea&e De&'ar's farm# they are thrown into a small trailer shared with other near"y farms and ta'en to +asalgaon( The roads are mostly $a&ed# howe&er the 10 mile ourney ta'es a cou$le of hours since the tractor is &ery slow and ric'ety( This system is e,tremely inefficient and costly to the farmers since their cro$s are not stored $ro$erly while on the farm# in the mar'et# or during trans$ortation( The mode of trans$ortation most farmers are forced to ta'e is also &ery dangerous with many crashes $er year resulting in a huge loss of $roduce( 1t is clear 1ndia's su$$ly chain needs to "e reformed and guidance(