Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167

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Resources, Conservation and Recycling

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Full length article

Modeling the causes of food wastage in Indian perishable food supply

chain
M. Balaji a,b,∗ , K. Arshinder a,c
a
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
c
School of Information Systems, Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Wastage in the perishable fresh produce fruits and vegetables supply chain from harvesting stage till it
Received 8 February 2016 reaches the consumer is very high in emerging markets like India. Studies are inadequate in analysing
Received in revised form 25 July 2016 the causal factors of food losses in this context. This study intends to identify the causes of food wastage,
Accepted 26 July 2016
as well as the driving power and dependence of these causes and to analyse the interactions among
them. This work proposes to use fuzzy MICMAC and total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) based
Keywords:
approach which is a novel effort in this sector, to study the interactions. Based on review of literature and
Fruits and vegetables supply chain
brainstorming among experts in the food industry and academia, this study identified 16 variables as the
Total interpretive structural modeling
(TISM)
super-set of causal factors of food wastage which can represent all other causes within them. It is found
Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) that the lack of scientific methods in harvesting and a large number of intermediaries in the chain have
Fuzzy MICMAC high driving power and can be considered as the root causes of the food losses. This work categorises the
India causes into several levels that give an idea regarding the cause which needs more attention than others.
Thereby it provides practical insights into how to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability of
the food supply chains. For a developing country like India, in addition to the economy, it can have greater
implications on food security and conservation of environment resources. This work can be utilized by
supply chain designers, managers, and policy makers.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food waste
as “wholesome edible material intended for human consumption,
arising at any point in the food supply chain (FSC) that is instead
discarded, lost or degrade” (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Food losses
or waste are the quantities of edible material wasted or lost in
the food supply chain at various stages, including harvesting, post-
harvest storage and material handling, processing, distribution and
consumption. A large amount of energy and other resources are
consumed for food production and distribution. Examples of food
loss in the supply chain include losses due to mechanical dam-
age, spillage and degradation due to threshing, improper handling
and packaging. Food losses bear a direct influence on food quality,
food security and safety, economic development and environment
(Gustavsson et al., 2011). It also has a direct and negative impact on
the farmer and consumer. Food losses represent the wastage of nat-
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mbalajime@gmail.com (B. M.), arshinder@iitm.ac.in (A. K.).
ural resources which are inputs for food production. These losses
lead to needless CO2 emissions, which further add to the environ-
mental problems. To meet the global food demand for increasing
population, it is important that not only the food production be con-
siderably increased but also it is equally important that the causes
of food waste be addressed (Halloran et al., 2014). This paper analy-
ses the causes of food wastage in Indian fruits and vegetable supply
chain from harvesting stage till it reaches the consumer. Though
the terms food loss and food waste are interchangeably used, food
losses refer to the losses in earlier part of the chain as in produc-
tion and processing stages whereas food waste refers to the loss in
the later part of the food chain as in retail and consumption stages
(Thyberg and Tonjes, 2016). In this paper, food losses or food waste
both means the same and refers to the loss of edible food material.
According to National Horticulture Database 2014, India is the
second largest producer of fruits and vegetables next to China.
India produced 88.97 million metric tonnes of fruits and 162.98
million metric tonnes of vegetables during 2014, which consti-
tutes around 12.6% and 14% of the total world production of fruits
and vegetables respectively (Handbook on Horticulture Statistics,
2014). Despite this enormous volume of production, the amounts

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.07.016
0921-3449/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
154 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
of exports are only 1–2%. As high as 18% of the total amount of
fruits and vegetables produced are wasted beginning from the post-
harvest stage until they reach consumers (FASAR, 2014). Both the
lack of an integrated approach and poor management of the sup-
ply chain are attributed to this wastage. As a result, a humongous
loss of more than INR 440 billion per year is reported due to poor
management of supply chains (Times of India, 2014). In 2013, Asso-
ciated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
highlighted that India incurs post-harvest losses worth over INR 2
trillion each year mainly owing to the lack of food processing units
and cold storage facilities as well as a general disregard for han-
dling the critical issue of post-harvest losses (ASSOCHAM, 2013).
Food loss can be minimized by the efficient supply chains (Shukla
and Jharkharia, 2013). There is ample scope to study the efficiency
in fruits and vegetables supply chain particularly in the Indian con-
text. The major contributors to food waste in the supply chain are
processing waste, lack of cold-storage facilities, process contamina-
tion, improper packaging, transportation losses, higher inventory
due to poor forecasts (Papargyropoulou et al., 2014). When these
inefficiencies in the fruits & vegetable supply chain are addressed
leading to the minimum loss of food from harvesting to the point of
consumption, it has enormous economic, social and environmen-
tal benefits. There is scantiness of studies on food wastage along
the food supply chain (Mena et al., 2011). Given the significance of
the problem, this paper aims to address this gap by analysing the
interactions among the causes of the food wastage in the perishable
food supply chain. Analysing the interactions among the elements
is very useful in dealing with the system efficiently and better deci-
sion making (Nasim, 2011). Given the complexities involved in the
Indian agricultural ecosystem, a detailed and well-structured anal-
ysis of the causes of food wastage along the chain and the ways
in which each variable affects the other would bring better clarity
in dealing with the challenges. Further, interpreting the relation
through the opinion of experts’ for each couple of variables will
make the structural models explicit and more transparent.
Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is a proven technique for
identifying the interactions or relationships among the elements
which address a problem under study. ISM helps in translating
the mental models into structural models, thereby the relation-
ships are very useful in solving the problem under study. Total
Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) approach is an upgraded,
extended version of ISM, which gives meaningful insights much
better than ISM approach by interpretation of the links (Singh and
Sushil, 2013). Using TISM, we found and labeled 89 interactions
among the 16 causes of food wastage in fruits and vegetable sup-
ply chain for complete interpretation. The various causes of losses
in fruits and vegetables supply chain, need to be studied in terms of
their driving power and interdependence. The traditional approach
of “Matrice d’Impacts Croises − Multiplication Applicqnce a un
Classement” (MICMAC) uses binary values of either 0 or 1, whereas
Fuzzy MICMAC uses a fuzzy scale in determining the weights of the
relationship between any two variables in which the linkage rela-
tionships can be inferred in detail. This study attempts to model
the interactions among the causes of food wastage in fruits and
vegetables supply chain from the harvesting stage till it reaches
the consumer using TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC approach. Fuzzy MIC-
MAC output ranks and classifies the 16 causes of food wastage in
the supply chains based on their driving power and dependence.
This model would help policymakers in reducing the food losses
successfully and contribute both to their organizations and to the
society to improve productivity and performance. Application of
TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC approach in fruits and vegetables supply
chain is a novel contribution, particularly in the context of devel-
oping countries like India.
The main objectives of this research are:
• to identify and rank the causes of food wastage in fruits and veg-
etables supply chain in the Indian context
• to establish the interrelationship among these identified causes
using TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC and
• to provide the key insights to the practitioners
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The fol-
lowing section discusses the literature review on food losses in
the perishable food supply chain. Section-3 deals with research
methodology and explains the procedure for doing TISM and Fuzzy
MICMAC analysis. Section-4 identifies the variables for losses in
fruits and vegetables supply chain in the Indian scenario. Then
an ISM-based structural model is developed. The ISM model is
upgraded to TISM, by entirely interpreting the structural model
in Section-5. In section-6, fuzzy MICMAC analysis is performed to
classify the causes based on driving power and dependence and in
Section-7, the results are provided. Section-8 provides suggestions
for the improvement of fruits and vegetables supply chain in India
and we conclude the paper in Section-9, with the limitations and
issues for further research.
2. Literature review
In this section, the relevant literature on food wastage in per-
ishable fresh produce supply chain has been reviewed.
Managing fresh food supply chains is very complex with the
recently increased concern of public health, food safety, food qual-
ity, demand and price variability, and the limited lifetime of these
products. Due to the short shelf life and product perishability,
inventory management for agri-food supply chains is important
(Beshara et al., 2012). Apaiah and Hendrix (2005) proposed a
methodology for designing efficient food supply chains and identi-
fying problems in supply chains. Supply chain design plays a crucial
role, in dealing with the products which have short shelf life and
higher quality degradation.
Fruits and vegetables (F&V) have a very short shelf life and are
the most perishable agricultural produce. Managing fruits and veg-
etables supply chains is highly complicated due to the product
specific attributes. One of the critical parameters of fresh produce
F&V supply chain is food quality which degrades over the period
depending upon the environmental conditions of storage and the
transportation facilities. This quality degradation makes food items
perishable in a short span of time, resulting in the value loss of the
food items. This dynamic nature makes the F&V supply chain very
challenging for its integrated management approach. An efficient
F&V supply chain would effectively manage the dynamic interrela-
tionships between shelf life, food quality, food wastage and would
result in increased profitability. Waste reduction is the principal
factor in achieving sustainability of the food supply chains (Kaipia
et al., 2013). Carter and Rogers (2008) proposed the triple bottom
line for sustainability. They argued that a firm has to do well in
the areas of economy, society and environment to achieve sus-
tainability and that sustainability should be part of an integrated
strategy for managing the firm. Van der Vorst et al. (2007) pro-
posed the quality controlled logistics that integrate the quality
dimensions with the logistics operations. Jedermann et al. (2014)
proposed intelligent food logistics by better quality supervision and
prediction models to address the food loss. Kaipia et al. (2013)
demonstrated using pilot projects on the benefits of information
sharing, including demand and shelf-life among producers, whole-
salers and retailers to accomplish enhanced fresh food supply chain
performance. They argued that improved visibility along the supply
chain would enhance the supply chain performance. Manzini and
Accorsi (2013) presented a conceptual framework for the assess-
ment of integrated food supply chain. They proposed an integrated
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
Least favourable opon
Prevenon
Re-use
Recycle
Recovery
Disposal
Fig. 1. The food waste hierarchy (Source: Papargyropoulou et al., 2014).
approach to supply chain design, management and simultaneous
control of food quality, food safety, logistics efficiency and sustain-
ability.
Joshi et al. (2009) identified and inter-related the factors which
hinder the implementation of the cold chains in India. It is found
that the petite research work has been done on Indian agri-
food supply chains when compared to other developing countries
(Trebbin, 2014). Eriksson et al. (2016) studied the impact of food
waste in supermarkets by simulating the relation between reduced
storage temperature, longer shelf life and increased energy costs.
Halloran et al. (2014) analysed the causes of food waste with spe-
cific reference to Denmark and proposed sustainable solutions for
different stakeholders on how could they address the prevention
and reuse of the edible food waste. Papargyropoulou et al. (2014)
analysed the factors that cause food waste in the entire food sup-
ply chain and proposed a food waste hierarchy framework in which
most attractive options for food waste management can be iden-
tified and prioritized. The food waste hierarchy shown in Fig. 1
reveals that minimising the food waste along the supply chain and
avoiding the food surplus is the most favourable option. The authors
argued that developing countries have very high potential for pre-
venting food waste and observed that bulk of food losses happen
particularly in the initial stages of the food supply chain.
Cardoen et al. (2015) analysed the environmental impact of the
waste from post-harvest losses in Indian agriculture. They argued
that the loss percentages in fruits and vegetables are high when
compared with other agricultural produce. In developed countries,
most of the food waste occurs at the consumer level, whereas in
developing countries food waste occurs at the early and middle
stages of the food supply chain (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Food waste
at the consumer level has largely to do with the behavioural factors
and food waste in the early stages in the supply chain are caused by
managerial and technical constraints in harvesting techniques, cold
storage facilities, infrastructure and packaging. In developing coun-
tries, smallholder farmers live on the boundaries of food insecurity,
a reduction in the food loss in the early and middle stages of the sup-
ply chain has a significant direct impact on the livelihood of farmers
(Gustavsson et al., 2011). Most of the studies on food wastage are
carried out in developed countries and to our knowledge, limited
research has been done in this area in developing countries. For a
developing country like India, addressing the causes of perishable
food wastage from harvesting till it reaches the consumer is very
crucial. With a majority of the Indian population depend on agri-
culture as their primary source of income, reduction of food losses
155
Prevent food wastage along the food supply
chain and avoid surplus food generaon
Surplus food can be reused through
redistribuon networks
Recycle food waste via composng and for
animal feed
Recover energy by food waste treatment
Dispose unavoidable food waste in to landfill,
only as the last opon
in the supply chain would ensure better income to the producers
and also better price and quality to the consumers. Based on the
literature review, it has been found that no study has been done to
investigate the interactions among the causes of food losses in the
perishable fresh-produce F&V supply chain in the Indian context.
For the stakeholders in the F&V supply chain to control the food
losses, antecedents and consequents associated with each cause
that contributes to the food wastage need to be established. Hence,
there is a necessity to build an explicit relationship model.
3. Research methodology
To establish the relationship among the causes, it is impor-
tant to identify the causes of food wastage in Indian F&V supply
chains and then a structural modeling approach is to be applied.
ISM is a methodology where the mental model and collective
knowledge of a group of people is translated into a meaningful
structural model. ISM was proposed by Prof. J Warfield (1974) to
analyse the mutual interactions among the elements by decompos-
ing a complicated system, and a hierarchical multi-level structural
model is evolved which provides meaningful insights. It is based
on the expert opinions to convert the complex mental models
into a simple one (Interpretive) and a multi-level hierarchy dia-
gram (structural) is extracted on the basis of relationships among
the elements. ISM is an effective tool to build a structural model
which depicts contextual relationships (Singh and Sushil, 2013).
ISM establishes relationships among identified variables to define
a particular problem through their dependency and driving power.
The applications of ISM are gaining momentum in supply chain
management. Thakkar et al. (2008) used ISM to model the IT
enablers for Indian manufacturing small and medium enterprises
(SME) to enhance their supply chain performance. Joshi et al.
(2009) used the fuzzy interpretive structural modeling approach to
model the inhibitors of cold chains in the Indian context. Sagheer
et al. (2009) used ISM to identify and analyse the critical factors
which enable compliance to the food standards in India. Diabat
and Govindan (2011) applied ISM framework to study the drivers
affecting implementation of green supply chain management and
validated it using a case study. Hans-Christian et al. (2011) mod-
eled potential supply chain risks, and Mathiyazhagan et al. (2013)
analysed the barriers for implementing green supply chain man-
agement by ISM. Al Zaabi et al. (2013) studied the interactions
among the barriers for implementing sustainable supply chain
management. Mathiyazhagan et al. (2013) used ISM to model the
156 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
influential pressures for the adoption of green supply chain man-
agement in the Indian scenario. Kumar et al. (2014) applied ISM in
analysing the interactions among the corporate social responsibil-
ity issues in supplier selection in the context of fireworks industries.
Luthra et al. (2015) modeled and analysed the interrelationships
among critical success factors to implement sustainable green sup-
ply chain management. From the literature, it is found that ISM
has not been applied to study the issues pertaining to F&V supply
chains. Using ISM in studying the causes of food wastage in F&V
supply chain, would facilitate the policy makers to pay unambigu-
ous attention to the nature of the relationships among the causes
of food wastage.
In this research, we adopted the following steps to imple-
ment ISM methodology (Thakkar et al., 2008; Joshi et al., 2009;
Mathiyazhagan et al., 2013; Luthra et al., 2015; Jharkharia and
Shankar, 2005; Mathiyazhagan and Haq, 2013; Singh and Kant,
2008). The obtained ISM model is upgraded to TISM model (Singh
and Sushil, 2013) and Fuzzy MICMAC analysis is performed to clas-
sify the causes (Gorane and Kant, 2013).
1. Various causes of food wastage in perishable food supply chains
are identified as variables based on the literature review and
brainstorming session among experts and are listed
2. The variables are represented in self-structural interaction
matrix (SSIM) which establishes the contextual relationships
among the causes of food wastage
3. The SSIM is converted into a binary matrix called initial reacha-
bility matrix
4. The reachability matrix derived from SSIM is tested for transi-
tivity. The transitive relationships mean that if cause A leads to
cause B and cause B leads to cause C, then cause A leads to cause
C.
5. Level partitioning is done to get distinct levels of causes
6. Based on the relationships obtained, a directed graph is drawn
7. The obtained ISM model is checked for conceptual consistency
and needed corrections, if required, are made. The process of ISM
model development is explained in Section-4
8. The obtained digraph is translated into binary interaction matrix.
Based on the interaction matrix the interpretive matrix is devel-
oped. Finally, TISM model is developed with the interpretation
written alongside the links. The process of TISM model develop-
ment is explained in Section-5
9. In fuzzy MICMAC, the diagonal elements in the initial reacha-
bility matrix are converted to zero, and additional inputs from
the experts are obtained to explain the strength of dominance
among the possible causes using a fuzzy scale. The values
obtained form a fuzzy direct reachability matrix (FDRM), which
is converted to Fuzzy MICMAC stabilized matrix. The process of
Fuzzy MICMAC analysis is explained in Section-6
The flowchart showing the complete methodology is presented
in Fig. 2.
4. ISM model development
4.1. Identification of variables
Six experts, of whom four are from the industry dealing with
fruits and vegetables and two from academia are identified through
the authors’ professional and personal networks. All the experts are
currently working in F&V supply chain domain. Literature related
to food losses were circulated to all the experts. Interview based
on a semi-structured questionnaire was also conducted with all
the experts. The industry personnel interviewed have a minimum
of ten years experience in procurement/processing/selling of fruits
and vegetables and are critical decision makers in their respective
organizations. The brief profile of the experts is shown in Table 1.
After two weeks of sending the relevant literature to experts, a
brainstorming session was organized to identify the causes. As
an outcome of this session, 25 variables were identified as the
causes of food wastage in Indian fruits and vegetables supply chain.
These were further reduced to 16, as some causes were similar in
nature and can be explained under a common cause. Data was col-
lected from experts for structural self-interaction matrix to get the
mutual relationships among these 16 variables and also for fuzzy
reachability matrix which would be explained in the subsequent
sections. Any discrepancies in the data were sorted out by consen-
sus among the experts. The results of the analysis were circulated
to the experts and has their consent.
The causes of the food wastage in perishable fresh-produce sup-
ply chains are identified based on the literature review and expert
opinions. These causes are described below without any particular
order.
4.1.1. Lack of cold storage facilities
India has the cold storage requirement of 61.13 million metric
tonnes but currently has the capacity for around 32 million metric
tonnes (Times of India, 2014). This existing capacity is roughly 50%
short of the cold storage facilities required. Cold storage facilities
are essential in maintaining the relative humidity of the agricultural
fresh-produce which controls the quality degradation and process
contamination. These cold storage facilities also control losses by
pests & rodent attacks. Viswanadham (2007) argues that most of
the food wastage from post harvesting to the customer can directly
be minimized if India has adequate cold storage facilities.
4.1.2. Shortage of refrigerated carriers
In India, there is a shortage of refrigerated trucks for transporting
the perishable food items. Around 100 million tonnes of perish-
able food items are transported through non-refrigerated transport,
and only less than 5 million tonnes are moved by temperature-
controlled trucks. The undue delays in state borders further add to
the cost of operation of refrigerated carriers (ITLN, 2015). Though
it is capital intensive to invest in refrigerated trucks, the accrued
savings by the reduction in the food wastage might be higher in
the long term.
4.1.3. Lack of scientific harvesting methods
Scientific harvesting methods would reduce food losses, partic-
ularly in perishable fruits and vegetables. Papargyropoulou et al.
(2014) observed that edible food items left in the field, ploughed
into soil, food damaged due to poor harvesting technique, improper
timing of harvesting fruits & vegetables are due to the lack of
modern scientific harvesting methods. Threshing loss due to poor
technique is one of the principal causes of loss, particularly in fruits
and vegetables.
4.1.4. Poor logistics infrastructure
Over the past several years, India’s global logistics performance
index, an international ranking released by World Bank has fallen
miserably from 37 in the year 2007 to 54 in 2014. This global
logistics performance index is assessed for each country based
on the clearance process efficiency (simple and predictable for-
malities), quality of transportation infrastructure (ports, railroads,
roads, information technology), ability to arrange economically
competitive shipments, availability of competent and quality logis-
tics services, access to real-time data on consignment status and
level of adherence to shipment deadlines (LPI, 2014). This shows
that India lacks adequate logistics infrastructure to meet the grow-
ing demand, and the problems which are pertinent to this sector
like higher costs, non-availability of sufficient skilled labour and
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167 157

List the causes of Food

Experts Opinion
Literature Review Wastage in Fruits &
Vegetable Supply Chain

Establish contextual relaonship

between the causes

Interpretaon of pair-wise comparison for

Structural Self-Interacon Matrix (SSIM)

Develop Inial Reachability Matrix

Develop Reachability Matrix with Transivity

Level Paroning Quanfy dominance of

interacon among the causes

Do Fuzzy MICMAC analysis

Develop digraph

Develop interacon matrix

from the final digraph
Is there a YES
conceptual
Convert into interpretaon
inconsistency?
matrix with significant
transivity links

Prepare TISM NO

TISM based final structural

model and ranking of causes

Fig. 2. TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC Methodology.

Table 1
Profile of the Experts.

Expert Number Years of Type of Business Designation Quantity in tonnes of Size of the unit
experience Activity F&V handled per week (square feet)

1 27 Aggregator and Producer Chief Executive 45 21000

2 14 Organised Wholesaler Manager-Sourcing 12 45000
3 12 Organised Retailer Store Manager 5 10000
4 10 Food Processor Senior Manager-Operations 8 22000
5 21 Academics Professor Not Applicable Not Applicable
6 13 Academics Associate Professor Not Applicable Not Applicable

inadequate implementation of technology have to be addressed
(Deloitte, 2014).
4.1.5. Poor logistics network design
The design of the logistics network is very crucial for the
performance of the supply chains. The proper logistics network
design comes in three phases. Long-term decisions include dis-
tribution network design which decides the logistics distribution
channel, which comprises of warehouses size and the number,
cross-docking points and related transportation links. Mid-term
decisions include distribution network planning which is related
to fulfilling demand on an aggregate level. Short-term decisions
include transportation planning which deals with the loading and
routing of vehicles to meet customer orders (Akkerman et al., 2010).
Establishing a proper distribution channel in India is challeng-
ing due to heterogeneity in farmer population and their produce,
varying in way of doing business, variety, volume, and grades
respectively (Hegde and Madhuri, 2013).
4.1.6. Lack of modern processing methods
Fruits and vegetables processing includes several activities like
cleaning, sorting, grading, processing and labeling. Inspection of
fruits and vegetables need to be done using scientific methods. They
are not only used for domestic consumption, but substantial quan-
158 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
tities are also exported in fresh and processed form. It is also used
as a raw material in various products like packaged foods, packaged
juices, pickles, sauces, jam, jelly, squashes, etc. Only 2% of vegetable
production and 4% of fruit production are being processed in India.
This is too low when compared with other developing countries like
Brazil (70%), Malaysia (83%) and Philippines (78%) (MOFPI, 2014).
India lacks modern processing methods to counter food wastage.
The Government’s initiative of 100% foreign direct investment in
the food-processing sector with five-year tax holiday should hope-
fully increase the access to modern processing methods in fruits
and vegetables (MOFPI, 2014).
4.1.7. Lack of modern packing design and methods
Agricultural fresh-produce items require appropriate packaging
to prevent losses in handling and in-transit losses (Viswanadham,
2007). Lack of modern packing methods leads to deterioration of
food quality, which further contributes to food loss (Shukla et al.,
2014). There are many packaging materials for fruits & vegeta-
bles which include bags, plastic crates, baskets, cartons, bulk bins
and palletized containers which are suitable for transportation
and material handling. A proper packaging design should contain,
protect, and identify the fresh produce, satisfying everyone from
grower to consumer.
4.1.8. Lack of standardised quality control procedures
The Codex Alimentarius standards, jointly established by Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health Organisa-
tion (WHO) is an apex body dealing with food standards and food
quality on the global level. Its directive is to guard public health
and facilitate trade relationships in the food sector (Trienekens
and Zuurbier, 2008). In the Indian context, data relevant to fruit
& vegetable quality and freshness are lost or not available from the
point of harvesting till it reaches the consumer (Joshi et al., 2009).
Even though Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has
prescribed standards based on the codex, not all the actors in the
F&V supply chain are fully aware of quality control standards and
procedures. As a result, there are no standardised quality control
procedures for sorting and grading (Shukla et al., 2014).
4.1.9. Lack of stringent inventory policies
Stringent inventory policies are critical for the performance of
any supply chain particularly for perishables like fruits & vegetables
supply chain (Reiner and Trcka, 2004). In India, the actors in the
food supply chain have to fulfil the customer orders without the
knowledge of inventory policy practiced by the other entities in
the supply chain. There is no scientific approach in deciding on the
reordering quantity and batch size of the perishables which have
different shelf lives and different supply and demand patterns. As
a result, early actors in the chain or the consumers have to bear the
brunt of excessive inventory costs, shrinkage costs and shortage
costs.
4.1.10. Ineffective demand management
In India, rice, wheat and other pulses come with minimum
support prices (MSP), whereas perishables like fruits & vegetables
don’t come with Government’s MSP. Not all the actors in the chain
can forecast the demand due to the non-availability of accurate
data. The pricing of the fresh produce largely depends on weather
conditions, supply and demand of particular varieties, periods of
availability, transport facilities, etc. Daily arrivals of the fresh pro-
duce to a particular wholesale market (also called as a ‘mandi’) also
have a direct bearing on the prices (Hegde and Madhuri, 2013).
More often, intermediaries have to delay the shipments expecting
better prices in the coming days, which lead to food wastage due
to deterioration of food quality.
4.1.11. Lack of integrated IT systems
Integrated IT systems facilitate to achieve high performance
supply chains. It helps in standardising the transaction procedures
with the customers and suppliers. These systems provide valuable
information for effective decision making. Jedermann et al. (2014)
argued that food losses could be largely reduced by an automated
demand forecasting system based on better information flow. Infor-
mation about shelf life losses based on continuous monitoring in
the food chains would help to respond faster and adjust transport
and chain processes so that corrective actions can be taken before
the food items fall below acceptable levels of quality.
4.1.12. Lack of communication among members
Kaipia et al. (2013) observed that improving communication
among the entities in the food supply chain could considerably
reduce the costs and waste in the entire chain. Proper communi-
cation among the members in the chain reduces uncertainty and
facilitates in responding effectively to the supply chain disruptions.
Better communication among the food supply chain members, par-
ticularly among one-up and one-down members in the chain is very
critical for optimal decisions.
4.1.13. Lack of coordination among players
Information sharing among the members and collaborative
demand forecasting would considerably reduce the food losses in
the entire chain (Kaipia et al., 2013). According to Dunne (2008),
collaboration among the members leads to increased competi-
tiveness of the entire food chain. Coordination can build trust
and commitment among the players. Better coordination leads to
absorbing the fluctuations in supply-demand gap, thereby making
the stakeholders more competitive and productive.
4.1.14. Lack of traceability systems & procedures
Bosona and Gebresenbet (2013) proposed a comprehensive
definition of food traceability. Traceability systems enable the
stakeholders to acquire, store, and share adequate information
about a food item along all actors of the food supply chain. These
systems ensure that a food product can be traced or tracked which
gives the vital visibility along the entire chain and also can be vali-
dated for safety and quality. Implementation of such systems could
reduce the food product losses in the whole food supply chain.
Traceability systems bring in transparency and improve supply
chain operational efficiency.
4.1.15. Poor training in handling & stacking
There is much manual handling which leads to the deterioration
in food hygiene and food quality (Viswanadham, 2007). Manual
loading and unloading from the trucks with improper methods
causes severe damage to the fruits & vegetables leading to food
wastage. Incompetent professional skills, lack of familiarity with
modern material handling equipments like reach stackers, pallet
trucks contribute to the ineffective practices (Joshi et al., 2009).
4.1.16. Large number of intermediaries
The existence of a large number of intermediaries (also called
commission agents) blocks the flow of vital information which
leads to poor coordination in the supply chain. In Indian food supply
chains there exist organized cartels between commission agents,
wholesalers and transporters (Sachan et al., 2005). These interme-
diaries have considerable margins and reduce the earnings which
should go to the farmer. The wastage in the food chains depends on
the number of intermediaries because higher the number of inter-
mediaries, higher will be the number of times the stock is switched
from one member to the other, leading to obsolescence losses.
Table 2 shows the identified variables and their references cited
in different works of literature. After the variables identification,
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
Table 2
Factors causing wastage in Fruits & Vegetables Supply Chain.
# Causes of Food Wastage
1 Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF)
2 Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC)
3 Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM)
4 Poor logistics infrastructure (LI)
5 Poor logistics network design (LND)
6 Lack of modern processing methods (PSM)
7 Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD)
8 Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC)
9 Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP)
10 Ineffective demand management (DM)
11 Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS)
12 Lack of communication among members (CO)
13 Lack of coordination among players (CP)
14 Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP)
15 Poor training in handling & stacking (TH)
16 Large number of intermediaries (NOP)
the next step is to model the relationships among the causes using
Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM).
4.2. Structural self-interaction matrix
The analysis was carried out after identification of 16 variables
based on thorough review of literature and experts’ opinion. These
experts are highly knowledgeable on the issues in the perishable
food supply chain in Indian context. ‘Leads to’ was chosen to rep-
resent a relationship, which means variable ‘p’ leads to variable
‘q’. Structural Self-Interaction Matrix (SSIM) shows the direction of
contextual relationships among the variables by symbols. To signify
them in the table, the following four symbols are used.
V-The cause p leads to achieve cause q
A-The cause q leads to achieve cause p
X- The cause p and q lead to achieve each other
O- The causes p and q are unrelated.
The SSIM is shown in Table 3. The causes are numbered from 1
to 16 and ISM methodology is implemented.
4.3. Initial reachability matrix
The SSIM is to be transformed into a matrix of binary values
called as the Initial Reachability Matrix. This is developed by suit-
ably assigning V, A, X and O by 1 and 0. The following guidelines
are used to complete this step.
• If in the SSIM, the relation between any two causes (p, q), has a
notation V, then substitute in the reachability matrix, (p, q) value
as 1 and (q, p) value as 0.
• If in the SSIM, the relation between any two causes (p, q), has a
notation A, then substitute in the reachability matrix, (p, q) value
as 0 and (q, p) value as 1.
• If in the SSIM, the relation between any two causes (p, q), has a
notation X, then substitute in the reachability matrix, (p, q) value
as 1 and (q, p) value as 1.
• If in the SSIM, the relation between any two causes (p, q), has a
notation O, then substitute in the reachability matrix, (p, q) value
as 0 and (q, p) value as 0.
Thus an initial reachability matrix is obtained.
The initial reachability matrix in Table 4 is tested for transitivity.
Transitivity is the property in which if the cause A is influencing
cause B and cause B is influencing cause C then cause A should
influence cause C. Transitivity matrix is generated using a MAT-
LAB code which takes initial reachability matrix as the input and
159
Reference
Viswanadham (2007)
Viswanadham (2007)
Papargyropoulou et al. (2014)
Joshi et al. (2009), Kumar (2008)
Akkerman et al. (2010), Apaiah and Hendrix (2005)
Viswanadham (2007)
Shukla et al. (2014), Viswanadham (2007)
Shukla et al. (2014) Trienekens and Zuurbier (2008)
Akkerman et al. (2010), Reiner and Trcka (2004)
Hegde and Madhuri (2013), Akkerman et al. (2010)
Jedermann et al. (2014), Joshi et al. (2009)
Kaipia et al. (2013)
Trebbin (2014), Kaipia et al. (2013), Dunne (2008)
Bosona and Gebresenbet (2013), Viswanadham (2007)
Joshi et al. (2009) Viswanadham (2007)
Viswanadham (2007), Joshi et al. (2009) Sachan et al. (2005)
gives the transitivity matrix as output. The reachability matrix with
transitivity relationships is presented in Table 5.
4.4. Level partitioning
From the obtained reachability matrix, each cause is grouped
into reachability and antecedent categories. The reachability group
comprises the self-referent cause and other causes which it
supports to accomplish. The antecedent group comprises the self-
referent cause and the other causes which support in accomplishing
it. The convergent set or the intersection set is obtained for each
cause. The causes which have the same reachability set and inter-
section set occupies the top level in the hierarchy. Then the
top-level causes are removed and the same process is repeated for
several iterations. For instance in the first iteration, cause numbers
11 and 15 have the same reachability set and intersection set. These
causes are removed in the next iteration and the process is repeated
until all the causes are partitioned to various levels. Table 6 shows
the final level partitioning of the identified causes. These multi-
levels help in building the directed graph which is represented in
Fig. 3. Table 7 shows the hierarchy of levels.
The digraph shown in Fig. 3 explains the causal relationships
among the causes of food wastage in Indian F&V supply chains.
However, it faces the limitation of giving explanations of ‘why and
how’ of the relationships obtained. The developed ISM model is
open to multiple interpretations by the user, which may lead to
ambiguity. These limitations are overcome by TISM approach, an
upgraded version of ISM.
5. Total interpretive structural modeling (TISM)
ISM is a proven method for translating ill-defined mental models
into structural models. Though interpretations can be made from
the contextual relationship among variables regarding the direc-
tion of a relation, these interpretations are partial which may lead
to different interpretations according to the user of the model.
ISM does not explain the causality among the variables which
is a significant limitation in the theory building for the research
problem under study. TISM, an innovative technique proposed by
Sushil (2012) overcomes these limitations of ISM. Based on the ISM
digraph, an interpretive matrix is developed to explain the rela-
tionships. This interpretive matrix will remove the ambiguity in
interpreting the relationships. TISM is applied in several research
areas including flexible manufacturing system dimensions (Dubey
and Ali, 2014); Indian telecom service providers (Yadav and Sushil,
2014); Airline performance (Singh and Sushil, 2013); Strategy exe-
160 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167

Table 3
Structural Self-Interaction Matrix.

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 1 V O A O A O O O O O O A V V A

Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 1 O A A A V A O O O O O V O A
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 1 O O A O O O O O O O V O O
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 1 X O O O V V O O O V O V
Poor logistics network design (LND) 1 V V A V O O X X V O A
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 1 X A O O O O O V O V
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 1 X X O V O O V O O
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 1 O O O O O V V O
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 1 X O O O A O O
Ineffective demand management (DM) 1 O O O O O O
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 1 X X X O O
Lack of communication among members (CO) 1 X O O A
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 1 X O A
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 1 O O
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 1 O
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 1

Table 4
Initial Reachability Matrix.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
Poor logistics network design (LND) 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ineffective demand management (DM) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
Lack of communication among members (CO) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1

Table 5
Reachability Matrix after Transitivity.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Poor logistics network design (LND) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Ineffective demand management (DM) 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0
Lack of communication among members (CO) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Note: Bold 1 indicate transitivity.

cution (Srivastava and Sushil, 2013); and e-governance (Nasim,
2011).
Based on the digraph in Fig. 3, a binary interaction matrix as
shown in Table 8 is obtained. Based on the interaction matrix the
interpretive matrix is developed and is shown in Table 9. Finally,
TISM model is developed with the interpretation written along-
side the links and is shown in Fig. 4. Thus, TISM interprets all links
and nodes making it more transparent, self-explanatory and fully
interpretive than the conventional ISM (Singh and Sushil, 2013). As
a result, 89 interactions between the 16 causes are tagged by 45
different labels for a complete interpretation. These 45 labels are
listed below using alphabet notations from ‘a’ to ‘ss’.
a. Temperature controlled logistics
b. Controlled process contamination
c. Decide appropriate quantity to be stored
d. Data acquisition for managerial decision making
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167 161

Table 6
Level partitioning of causes (Iteration I–VI).

Causes Reachability Set Antecedent Set Intersection Set Level

1 1,7 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,16 1,7 III

2 2,6,7,8,9,13,14 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 2,6,7,8,9,13,14 II
3 3,9,13,14 3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 3,9,13,14 II
4 4 4 4 VI
5 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 IV
6 5,6,8,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 5,6,8,12,16 IV
7 1,5,6,7,8,10,12,16 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,16 1,5,6,7,8,10,12,16 III
8 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 IV
9 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 II
10 10 4,10 10 V
11 1,5,9,11,12,13,14 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16 1,5,9,11,12,13,14 I
12 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 IV
13 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 II
14 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,16 II
15 15 1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16 15 I
16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 4,5,6,8,10,12,16 IV

Lack of integrated IT Poor training in

systems (11) handling & stacking
(15)

Lack of Lack of
Shortage of Lack of scienfic Lack of stringent
coordinaon traceability
refrigerated carriers harvesng methods inventory policies (9)
among players systems &
(2) (3)
(13) procedures (14)

Lack of cold storage Lack of modern

facilies (1) packing design and
methods (7)

Lack of modern Lack of standardised Lack of Large number

Poor logiscs
processing methods quality control communicaon of
network design (5)
(6) procedures (8) among members intermediaries
(12) (16)

Ineffecve demand
management (10)

Poor logiscs
infrastructure (4)

Fig. 3. ISM model which shows the relationships among the causes of food wastage in Indian F&V supply chains.

e. Implementation of standards q. Ease of tracking and tracing

f. Increased awareness and skills development r. Processing for increased shelf life
g. Policy implementation s. Sorting and grading at farm stage
h. Improve farm productivity t. Quality assurance
i. Better connectivity from farm to market u. Increased shelf life and reduced loss
j. Appropriate location of collection and distribution centres v. Scientific methods to counter losses
k. Decide appropriate quantity to be transported w. Uniform lot size
l. Effective matching of demand with supply x. Uniform packaging standards implementation
m. Costlier connectivity among the members y. Enforcement of food safety and quality standards
n. Collection agents z. Degradation and process contamination
o. Production-processing-distribution centres connectivity aa. Quality control through appropriate packaging
p. Collaborative planning and decision making bb. Transparent quality control systems and procedures
162 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167

Table 7
Hierarchy of causes.

LEVEL I Lack of Integrated IT Systems, Poor Training in

Handling

LEVEL II Shortage of Refrigerated Carriers, Lack of

scientific harvesting methods, Lack of
Stringent Inventory Policies, Lack of
Coordination among players, Lack of
Traceability Systems & Procedures
LEVEL III Lack of Cold storage facilities, Lack of Modern
packing design and methods
LEVEL IV Poor Logistics Network Design, Lack of modern
processing Methods, Lack of Standardised
Quality Control Procedures, Lack of
Communication among members, Large
Number of Intermediaries
LEVEL V Ineffective Demand management
LEVEL VI Poor Logistics Infrastructure

Table 8
Binary Interaction Matrix.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Poor logistics network design (LND) 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Ineffective demand management (DM) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lack of communication among members (CO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0

Table 9
Interpretive Matrix.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) – a – – – – b – c – d – – e f –
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) – – – – – – – – g – d – – – – –
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) – – – – – – – – h – d – – e – –
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) i i – – j – – – k l – m – – – n
Poor logistics network design (LND) i i – – – o b – k – d – p q – –
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) r r s – o – – t u – d – – e – –
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) b a v – – – – – w – d – x e f –
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) y z s – – t aa – g – d bb – cc – –
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) – dd v – – – – – – – d – p – f –
Ineffective demand management (DM) ff – – – o gg – hh ii – d jj p – – kk
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Lack of communication among members (CO) – – – – – – ll bb ii – – – ee q – mm
Lack of coordination among players (CP) – nn v – – – – – p – d – – oo f –
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) – oo e – – – – – – – d – oo – f –
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) pp – – – – – ll – qq – – mm rr ss f –

cc. Quality management and cost effective recalls ll. Awareness of uniform packing standards
dd. Uniform truck load mm. Poor visibility of the data and the goods along the chain
ee. Trust and commitment nn. Sharing of resources
ff. Excess supply to be cold stored oo. Traceability standards implementation
gg. Poor awareness of modern processing methods pp. Fragmented production
hh. Scientific quality control qq. Distorted inventory policies
ii. Appropriate inventory policy rr. Ineffective planning
jj. Aware of demand and supply data ss. Difficulty in implementation
kk. Cartels of collection agents and traders
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167 163

Lack of integrated IT Poor training in

f
systems (11) handling & stacking
d (15)
f
f
d g
Lack of Lack of
Shortage of Lack of scienfic Lack of stringent
p coordinaon oo traceability
refrigerated carriers harvesng methods h inventory policies (9)
among players systems &
(2) d (3)
(13) procedures (14)
w
c k e

a cc
i Lack of cold storage Lack of modern q
r b
facilies (1) packing design and rr
methods (7)
b
ss
pp ff g z qq
i ll

r ii y aa ee

Lack of modern Lack of standardised Lack of Large number

Poor logiscs
o processing methods quality control bb communicaon mm of
network design (5) t
(6) procedures (8) among members intermediaries
(12) (16)
gg hh
o
jj kk

Ineffecve demand
management (10)
i
j

l m direct link

Poor logiscs n significant transive link

infrastructure (4)

Fig. 4. TISM Model Illustration.

Table 10 In fuzzy MICMAC, the diagonal elements in the initial reacha-

Fuzzy scale for dominance of interaction.
bility matrix are converted to zero, and additional inputs from the
Strength of relationship between causes experts are obtained to explain the strength of dominance among
Dominance No Very Weak Weak Medium Strong Very Strong Full the possible causes. The values obtained form a fuzzy direct reacha-
Numerical Value 0 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1 bility matrix (FDRM) and is shown in Table 11. This would increase
the sensitivity of the MICMAC analysis (Gorane and Kant, 2013).

6. Fuzzy MICMAC analysis 6.1. Fuzzy MICMAC stabilized matrix

In traditional MICMAC analysis, the relation between two causes
is expressed in binary digits and is denoted by 0 or 1. If there
is no relationship between two causes it is denoted by 0 and if
there is a relationship it is denoted by 1. For instance, the rela-
tionship between cause 1 and cause 2, cause 14 and cause 15 will
have equal importance and is denoted by a binary number 1. How-
ever the relationships among these causes cannot be always equal.
The strength of relationships could not be captured in traditional
MICMAC analysis. To overcome this limitation fuzzy scales have
been used to explain the dominance of interactions. The relation-
ships between any two causes could be anything from no, weak,
very weak, medium, strong, very strong and full. Table 10 shows
the fuzzy scale for dominance of interactions. It gives a better and
meaningful classification of causes than the traditional ISM and is
very useful in arriving at the accurate relationships based on the
expert opinions. The ranking of the causes differs considerably and
is closer to reality when fuzzy scales rather than traditional binary
values are used. The objective of fuzzy MICMAC analysis in this
study is to identify and analyse the causes of food wastage based
on their driving power and dependence in perishable food supply
chains.
Considering the FDRM as a base matrix, it is initially multiplied
with final reachability matrix. Then the product matrix is multiplied
repeatedly with FDRM until the hierarchies of driving power and
dependence stabilise (Kandasamy et al., 2007; Gorane and Kant,
2013; Dubey and Ali, 2014). Kandasamy et al. (2007) explained
the method of multiplication of fuzzy matrices. According to Fuzzy
set theory, when two fuzzy matrices are multiplied the resultant
matrix is also a fuzzy matrix. Fuzzy multiplication follows the rule:
C = A, B = maxk[(min(aik , bkj )]whereA = [Aik ]andb = [bkj ] (1)
Table 12 shows the fuzzy MICMAC stabilized matrix, and the
causes are ranked and clustered based on the dependence power
and driving power. The fuzzy MICMAC diagram is shown in Fig. 5.
These causes have also been classified into four categories:
(1) Autonomous causes
Autonomous causes have low driving power and dependence.
From the Fuzzy MICMAC diagram, it is understood that none of the
causes of food wastage are classified as autonomous causes. Gener-
ally, autonomous causes relatively stand apart and have minimum
164 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167

Table 11
Fuzzy Direct Reachability Matrix.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0.5 0
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 0.7 0.7 0 0 0.9 0 0 0 0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0.3 0 0.1
Poor logistics network design (LND) 0 0.5 0 0.7 0 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 0 0 0.1 0.1 0.9 0 0
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0 0 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0 0.5
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0.9 0.7 0 0.5 0 0 0.3 0 0
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 0 0.3 0 0 0.1 0.5 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.9 0.3 0
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ineffective demand management (DM) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0.7 0.9 0 0
Lack of communication among members (CO) 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0.9 0 0 0
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 0.5 0 0 0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0.7 0 0.3 0 0
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.3 0 0 0
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 0.9 0.7 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0.7 0 0 0

Table 12
Fuzzy MICMAC Stabilised Matrix.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DRIVER RANK

CSF RC HM LI LND PSM PD QC IP DM ITS CO CP TSP TH NOP

Lack of cold storage facilities (CSF) 0 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.5 8.5 12
Shortage of refrigerated carriers (RC) 0.5 0 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 9.3 7
Lack of scientific harvesting methods (HM) 0.5 0.5 0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.3 7.3 15
Poor logistics infrastructure (LI) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 8.8 10
Poor logistics network design (LND) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 9 8
Lack of modern processing methods (PSM) 0.5 0.7 0 0.7 0.5 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.1 8.8 10
Lack of modern packing design and methods (PD) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5 0 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 8.4 14
Lack of standardised quality control procedures (QC) 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 9.7 4
Lack of stringent inventory policies (IP) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.1 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 8.9 9
Ineffective demand management (DM) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 9.5 6
Lack of integrated IT systems (ITS) 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 8.5 12
Lack of communication among members (CO) 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.5 9.9 2
Lack of coordination among players (CP) 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.9 0.5 0.5 9.9 2
Lack of traceability systems & procedures (TSP) 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0.5 0.5 9.7 4
Poor training in handling & stacking (TH) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16
Large number of intermediaries (NOP) 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0 10.1 1
DEPENDENCE 8 9.4 3.9 8.1 7.8 9 9.2 8.5 9.2 8.5 9.8 9.8 9.8 11.6 7.3 6.4
RANK 12 5 16 11 13 8 6 9 6 9 2 2 2 1 14 15

12
11
10 16 12, 13
Independent Linkage
DRIVING POWER

9 Causes 5 8,10 2, 9 Causes 14

8 1, 4 6,7,11
7 3
6
5
4
Autonomous Dependent
3 Causes Causes
2
1 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

DEPENDENCE

Fig. 5. Driving Power & Dependence–Fuzzy MICMAC Diagram.

impact on the system. It can be inferred that all the causes identified and stacking is a dependent cause and is seen at the top of the hier-
are highly relevant and have a significant impact on food wastage archy. Strong dependence indicates that this cause requires all the
in the supply chain. other causes to minimize the food wastage.

(2) Dependent causes (3) Linkage causes

The second quadrant has weak driving power and strong depen- The third quadrant has strong driving power and dependence
dence and is called as dependent causes. Poor training in handling and is called as linkage causes. Any change in the linkage causes
 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
affects other causes and also influence itself to a greater extent.
Around 13 of the 16 identified causes of food wastage in the perish-
able chain indicates that these 13 causes are very well interrelated.
The linkage causes are lack of integrated IT Systems, shortage of
refrigerated carriers, lack of stringent inventory policies, lack of
coordination among players, lack of traceability systems & proce-
dures, lack of cold storage facilities, lack of modern packing design
and methods, poor logistics network design, lack of modern pro-
cessing methods, lack of standardised quality control procedures,
lack of communication among members, ineffective demand man-
agement and poor logistics infrastructure.
(4) Independent causes
The fourth quadrant has strong driving power and weak depen-
dence and the causes in this quadrant are called as independent
causes. From the Fuzzy MICMAC diagram, it is understood that a
large number of intermediaries and the lack of scientific harvest-
ing methods are independent causes. The policy makers have to
address these causes very cautiously, as these can be considered as
the root causes of the problem of food wastage in the perishable
agri-fresh produce supply chain.
7. Results
This study intended to identify and prioritise the causes of food
wastage in the fruits and vegetables supply chain and to analyse the
interactions among the causes which facilitate in understanding
and controlling food wastage in the Indian context. A combina-
tion of TISM, an upgraded version of ISM methodology and fuzzy
MICMAC is used to achieve these objectives. This will help to
understand the linkages between the causes of food wastage and
increase the productivity and profitability. The analysis of interac-
tions among different causes in the form of a hierarchical structure
gives useful insights in understanding the driver-dependent rela-
tionship. The qualitative modeling method used in the study is able
to convert the mental models into a well-defined highly interpre-
tive structural model. 16 causes have been identified as the causes
of wastage in the fruits and vegetables supply chain in the Indian
context based on thorough literature review and opinions from
experts in the industry and academia. The ISM model is developed
based on the well-established ISM methodology. From Fig. 3, it has
been observed that poor logistics infrastructure is at the bottom
of the hierarchy. Poor logistics infrastructure results in ineffective
demand management which further leads to poor logistics network
design, lack of modern processing methods, lack of standardised
quality control procedures, lack of communication among mem-
bers and a large number of intermediaries. Lack of cold storage
facilities and lack of modern packing design and methods lead to
the shortage of refrigerated carriers, lack of scientific harvesting
methods, lack of stringent inventory policies, lack of coordination
among players and lack of traceability systems and procedures.
Lack of integrated IT systems and poor training in handling and
stacking is at the uppermost stratum of the structural model.
The developed ISM model is upgraded to TISM model showing
the interpretations among the direct links and significant transitive
links in the digraph. As an output of TISM, 89 links among the 16
causes are tagged by 45 different interpretations. These interpre-
tations are useful for understanding the complexities involved in
addressing the causes of food wastage along the chain. During this
study, the interpretations collected from experts were very helpful
in upgrading the ISM model to TISM. This TISM model is much more
interpretive and free from ambiguity in interpretations.
Fuzzy MICMAC analysis is used to rank and classify the 16 causes
of food wastage based on driving power and dependence. Since
165
there are no autonomous causes which have low driving power and
dependence, all the causes significantly influence food wastage in
the supply chain. Poor training in handling and stacking has high
dependence and low driving power. A large number of intermedi-
aries and the lack of scientific harvesting methods are significant
causes of food wastage because it has high driving power and less
dependence. It is evident that using the fuzzy scale, the ranking of
the causes differs significantly and is closer to reality rather than
traditional binary values because the strength of dominance among
the causes is fully quantified.
8. Discussion
For a country like India, where large distances geographically
separate the farms and market places, intermediaries or commis-
sion agents make good margins. Agriculture produce marketing
committee Act (APMC Act) 2003, which is predominantly setup
with the objective to provide efficient marketing system for farmers
and for the promotion of agricultural exports, is implemented by
the various state Governments. Government agencies have to cre-
ate more markets with transparent business transactions that are
attractive to both the sellers and the buyers which would minimize
the number of intermediaries in the chain. Many horticultural crops
have multiple pickings in a single season. The decision to pluck a
fruit or vegetable is mostly subjective, and there is no scientific
approach in determining the picking of fruits & vegetables. Also,
the harvesting techniques employed are very traditional and result
in food losses in the harvesting stage itself. Government and agri-
cultural Universities can create awareness among the producers on
scientific harvesting principles and procedures.
Integrated IT systems would facilitate information flow along
the food supply chain. All the experts agreed that there are no
proper data acquisition systems from farm to the retail stage in
the chain. It is due to this inadequate information flow along the
fresh produce chain, that the stakeholders are constrained to take
sub-optimal decisions. Storage temperature is very critical for the
fruits & vegetables. It controls process decontamination and helps
to retain the shelf-life. India has very limited capacity of cold stor-
age facilities. Cold storage facilities would adequately address the
issues that are pertinent to the inventory management of per-
ishable items like fruits & vegetables. There is a need to build a
large number of cold-storage facilities by public-private partner-
ships to address the capital requirements. The Indian Government’s
intervention is required to enhance the logistics infrastructure, to
simplify the procedures for clearance process at the check points
that are controlled by the state Governments and to build and
develop skill sets among the workforce in the logistics indus-
try. Appropriate location of collection and distribution centres is
mandatory to meet the fluctuations in supply-demand gap effec-
tively.
India can replicate several sustainable solutions adopted by
developed countries in mitigating the impact of the food waste.
Solutions can be found through better communication among the
stakeholders, improved coordination among members and more
efficient food packaging. Also, the fruits & vegetables waste is
dumped to a municipal waste. If the appropriate infrastructure is
created for waste disposal, there is enormous potential for energy
harvesting and nutrient cycling through composting facilities.
The Indian government’s initiatives such as the five-year tax
holiday for new food processing units and 100% FDI in this sector
are likely to increase the number of food processing units, which
would allow opportunities to identify export markets. Countries
in the European Union have made food traceability as a manda-
tory requirement and, can trace and track food anywhere in the
chain. India, when it overcomes these deficiencies would ensure
166 B. M., A. K. / Resources, Conservation and Recycling 114 (2016) 153–167
food traceability resulting in food quality and food security. Spe-
cific targets for food waste in the fruits & vegetables supply chain is
to be set with a clear roadmap to achieve them. It requires a com-
prehensive, focused and sustained approach in dealing with the
food wastage in the F&V supply chains and has a positive impact
on the economy, environment and social indicators.
9. Conclusion
Food wastage along the supply chain is one of the critical chal-
lenges for a developing economy like India. In this paper, 16 causes
of food wastage in the fruits and vegetable supply chain are iden-
tified and their interactions are modeled using TISM and Fuzzy
MICMAC approach. Food wastage prevention is one of the critical
areas to be addressed, particularly for a country like India, to feed
its growing population. This research will help decision makers
in the public or private organizations to understand the interac-
tions among the causes of food wastage and formulate appropriate
strategies to mitigate the losses. To our knowledge, this study is
the first to model the causes of food wastage in a perishable agri-
fresh produce supply chain from harvesting stage till it reaches
consumers using TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC approach. The findings
of this paper provide critical insights about the issues which are
pertinent in the distribution network of horticultural produce in
India. The weightages of the TISM and Fuzzy MICMAC are based on
the expert opinions. It is a subjective judgement by few experts,
hence the model developed can be tested using a questionnaire
survey and statistically validated by structural equation modeling
(SEM).
Acknowledgement
The authors sincerely thank the editor and anonymous review-
ers for their valuable comments in improving the quality of this
paper.
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