A Vicious Cycle Between Agriculture Supply Chain and Climate Change

PurposeWith the rapid growth of the economy, people have increasingly higher living standards, and although people simply pursued material wealth in the past, they now pay more attention to material quality and safety and environmental protection. This paper discusses the lack of motivation for investing in fresh-keeping technology for agricultural products by individual members of an agricultural supply chain composed of a supplier and a retailer by means of mathematical models and data simulations and discuss the optimal price-invest strategies under different sales models.Design/methodology/approachFirst, based on the model of no investment by both sides (NN), this paper considers three models: supplier only (MN), retailer only (NR) and cooperative investment (MR). Then, the authors analyze the influence of consumer price sensitivity and freshness sensitivity on the investment motivation of agricultural products under four models. Subsequently, the paper makes a sensitivity analysis of the optimal strategies under several models, and makes a game analysis of the suppliers and retailers of agricultural products. Finally, we conduct an empirical analysis through specific values.FindingsThe results show that (a) when the two sides cooperate, the amount of investment is largest, the freshness of the agricultural products is highest, and the sales volume is greatest; however, when both sides do not invest, the freshness of agricultural products and sales volume are lowest. (b) The price and freshness sensitivity of the consumer have an impact on investment decisions. Greater freshness sensitivity corresponds to a higher investment, higher agricultural product price, greater sales volume, and greater supply chain member income and overall income; however, greater price sensitivity corresponds to a lower investment, lower agricultural product price, lower sales volume, fewer supply chain members and lower overall income. (c) The investment game between the supplier and retailer is not only related to the sensitivity to price and freshness but also to the coordination coefficients of interest. At the same time, the market position of agricultural products should be considered when making decisions. The market share of agricultural products will affect the final game equilibrium and then affect the final benefit of the supply chain and individual members.Practical implicationsThese results provide managerial insights for enterprises preparing to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.Originality/valueAt present, the main problem is that member enterprises of agricultural supply chains operate based on their own benefits and are resistant to investing alone to improve the freshness of agricultural products. Instead, they would prefer that other members invest so that they may reap the benefits at no cost. Therefore, the enterprises in each node of the agricultural product supply chain are not motivated enough to invest, and competition and game states are observed among them, and such behavior is definitely not conducive to improving the freshness of agricultural products. However, the current research on agricultural products is more about price, quality and greenness, etc., and there are few studies on agricultural investment. Through the establishment of the model, this paper is expected to provide theoretical suggestions for the supply chain enterprises that plan to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.

Agriculture and allied activities hold a key to sustaining all human activities and ensuring a food-secured future. However, significant issues such as the ever-growing population and cut-throat competition for resources pose a continuous threat to the agricultural supply chains, thereby compromising sustainable agricultural development. To overcome the ever-escalating complex challenges in agricultural supply chains and production systems, advancements in precision agriculture, smart farming, and effective supply chain collaboration are critical for addressing agricultural sustainability challenges. This research study examines the direct effects of industry 4.0 technology capabilities (I4TC) and supply chain integration (SCI) on sustainable agricultural supply chain performance (SASCP). The study investigates the direct and indirect impact of I4TC on SASCP with SCI as the mediating variable; moreover, it seeks to validate the direct influence of I4TC on SCI and SASCP. Based on the data collected from 262 food processing organizations in India, the findings highlight noteworthy impacts of I4TC on SASCP and verify the presence of SCI as a partially mediating variable. Furthermore, the findings extend the body of knowledge on I4TC by recognizing I4TC as an enabler of SCI, thereby leading to enhanced SASCP. From the practitioner's perspective, the current study can help food-processing organizations better understand the importance of SCI in ASCs and provide valuable insights for managing ASCs to achieve SASCP.

PurposeThis paper aims to address the conceptual and practical challenges in integrating triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in the agriculture supply chain (ASC). It identifies the key enablers for each of the three dimensions of TBL sustainability, analyses their causal relationships as well as cross-dimensional interactions under each TBL dimension. Further, it develops a decision support framework (DSF) for the assessment of TBL sustainability practices and policies in ASC and validates it through a case study.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretive structure modelling (ISM) methodology is deployed to establish the interrelationships among all TBL enablers and to identify the enablers with high driving power on sustainable ASC. Brainstorming by a group of experts was used to identify the relevant enables. Finally, a DSF was developed as a resultant of ISM.FindingsThe paper provides a set of enablers with high driving power that can significantly influence the sustainability practices and policies in ASC. The social enablers directly help to enhance the effect of economic enablers and collectively these enhance the effect of environmental enablers. If agriculture firms and supply chains design innovative policies and develop practices based on these enablers, they can achieve sustainable ASC. Consequently, the living standards of the people directly or indirectly associated with the agriculture firm or supply chain can be improved without compromising on economic performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper consolidates the fragmented knowledge of sustainable supply chain management in the agriculture sector and suggests a DSF to policymakers, managers and practitioners for assessing TBL sustainability practices and policies. The DSF has wide applicability in other sectors of production and operations management as these sectors also face the challenge of achieving TBL sustainability across their supply chain.Practical implicationsThe DSF, developed in the paper, is a useful tool for practitioners to frame and analyse sustainability initiatives and policies for ASC. A firm or supply chain may achieve TBL sustainability if it succeeds in uplifting the social status of its stakeholders.Social implicationsIt is a first step towards addressing the practical challenge of integrating sustainability in the agriculture sector of emerging economies and provides a path to improve the livelihood of people in the agriculture sector. Stakeholder engagement with a focus on collaboration and awareness may lead to the desired social and environmental consequences. Potential adverse social effects also need to be considered.Originality/valueThis paper focusses on the so far rather neglected but essential aspect of integrating TBL sustainability in the agriculture sector of emerging economies. The hierarchal representation and classification of the TBL sustainability enablers of sustainability is a unique effort in the field of ASC. Development of DSF is one of the first attempts to create a mapping between various enablers of TBL sustainability. The novelty of the study lies in the sector-specific, holistic evaluation of TBL sustainability policy measures that may lead to improvements in practice.

This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of agricultural supply chain using data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. This is because the supply chain of agricultural products is not regular and contains various members, which has been a limitation for analysis, but to overcome this, this study aims to systematically analyze it using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that hinder the development of the agricultural supply chain and propose strategies to improve the efficiency of the system. This study aims to verify the effectiveness of the analysis of China's agricultural supply chain, identify the main areas of inefficiency, and derive practical measures to optimize the supply chain system. This study provides implications for global agricultural supply chain cooperation between the Korean agricultural market and the Chinese agricultural market, which still has inefficiency factors, and for Korean companies to enter the Chinese agricultural supply chain market.

In order to better realize agricultural informatization, a data management system for agricultural supply chain, which has the characteristics of safe, credible, stable, traceable, information-sharing, and large-throughput, is needed to construct. To date, the information management method for China's agricultural supply chain is usually stored in a centralized database and file system, with weak information management capabilities, leading to problems such as theft, tampering, deletion, and inconsistencies. In light of these problems, we introduce blockchain technology which is a cutting-edge technology in digital finance and has developed rapidly. This paper proposes a data management system based on blockchain technology and affords efficient data extraction, management and access control for heterogeneous forms of data across the agricultural supply chain. The data management system includes four credible data management platforms: agricultural production information, recording transportation information, farmer-consumer transaction information, and consumer credit information. It also can add more platforms according to later needs and combine an interstellar distributed file system and smart contract technology, making it possible to conduct information security research throughout the agricultural supply chain. The proposed system effectively protects information about supply chain activities including agricultural product production, warehousing, transportation, distribution, and sales. It implements seamless connection between agricultural product production and marketing, enabling the transforming and upgrading of agriculture, thereby helping farmers increase their income and eliminate poverty.

With the increasing prominence of food safety problems, consumers are paying more and more attention to the quality and safety of agricultural products. Information traceability of agricultural products supply chain is an important way to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products. Blockchain technology provides a new solution for information traceability of agricultural products supply chain with its characteristics of decentralization, immutable and transparency. This paper reviews the basic principles of blockchain technology and its application in agricultural supply chain information traceability. By combing relevant literature, it is found that blockchain technology is widely used in the production, processing, logistics and other aspects of agricultural products, effectively improving the transparency and traceability of the supply chain. Finally, it is concluded that the information traceability of agricultural product supply chain under the blockchain improves the traceability, visibility and information security of the supply chain, and also promotes the cooperation and coordination among various entities in the supply chain. With the continuous development and improvement of blockchain technology, its application in agricultural product supply chain information traceability will be more extensive and in-depth, providing more solid technical support for the quality and safety of agricultural products.

Against the backdrop of domestic and international dual circulation and rural revitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) serves as the core impetus driving the digital transformation of the agricultural product supply chain. Existing research mostly focuses on the application ofAI in a single link of the agricultural supply chain, lacking studies from the perspective of e-commerce platforms on how to solve the problem of dispersed supply chain entities and achieve full-chain collaboration. This paper takes the Pinduoduo's Agricultural Land Cloud Group Buying Project as the research object and uses the case study method to analyze the empowerment practice of AI in the entire process of agricultural supply chain production, circulation, and sales, and explores the impact of macro and micro factors on the empowerment effect of AI. The research finds that the project has achieved the compression of supply chain links, reduction of losses, and increase in sales through AI, but it faces bottlenecks such as the low digital literacy of elderly farmers and the tilt of platform R&D resources towards the sales end. Based on this, this paper designs optimization paths from three dimensions: e-commerce platforms, government departments, and research institutions, providing theoretical and practical references for e-commerce platforms to empower the digital transformation of the agricultural supply chain.

This paper aims at identifying the factors affecting green supply chain in agriculture in Vietnam currently. The literature indicates 14 factors affecting green supply chains in agriculture including: (i) manager commitment, (ii) IT system, (iii) new technology, (iv) organizational culture, (v) HR quality, (vi) energy & waste management, (vii) market & competition, (viii) political supports, (ix) knowledge & experience, (x) actors’ participation, (xi) costs, (xii) suppliers, (xiii) logistics management, and (xiv) consumer awareness. Our regression model with 14 independent variables was established to determine the factors affecting the success of green supply chains in Vietnam agriculture. The regression results show six factors affecting significantly and positively green supply chain in agriculture in Vietnam, including: (i) manager commitment, (ii) new technology, (iii) HR quality, (iv) knowledge & experience, (v) logistic management, and (vi) consumer awareness. Hence, the paper suggests some recommendations to Vietnam firms and State for improving green supply chain in agriculture.

With the rapid development of Internet of things technology, the supply chain of agricultural products is increasing maturity in the Internet of things environment. Agricultural products supply chain in our country is in a key period from traditional mode to a modern one. This article finds out the combination point between agricultural products supply chain each link with the Internet of things, and analyzes information processing system of the agricultural supply chain under the Internet of things technology based on Internet of things technology and the characteristics of the agricultural products supply chain management, having guidance value to implementing agricultural information sharing in the IOT environment in the future.

Given the state of technical advancement in modern society, blockchain technology has obvious potential in improving the transparency and efficiency of agricultural product supply chains. However, its high cost greatly influence enterprise strategy choices and adoption. Additionally, the agricultural supply chain faces several challenges, including asymmetric information, difficulties in traceability, complicated circulation links and high cost. This study explores how the deployment cost of blockchain affects the strategic choice of enterprises and to build a basic theoretical analysis framework. Also, the study analyzes the dynamic impact of blockchain technology cost on the strategic choices of agricultural supply chain by studying the case of Carrefour agricultural supply chain. The research concludes that the cost structure of blockchain technology directly drives enterprises to adopt the gradual strategy of "pilot expansion ecology". With the promotion of strategy, enterprises further mitigate the technology cost through large-scale application and ecological synergy, forming a positive cycle of "technology investment strategy upgrade cost optimization larger-scale investment".

The Agriculture Trading Platform (ATP) represents a significant innovation in the realm of agricultural trade in Malaysia. This web-based platform is designed to address the prevalent inefficiencies and lack of transparency in the current agricultural trading environment. By centralizing real-time data on agricultural production, consumption, and pricing, ATP provides a comprehensive dashboard that facilitates data-driven decision-making for all stakeholders in the agricultural supply chain. The platform employs advanced deep learning algorithms, including Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), to forecast market trends and consumption patterns. These predictive capabilities enable producers to optimize their market strategies, negotiate better prices, and access broader markets, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency and transparency of agricultural trading in Malaysia. The ATP’s user-friendly interface and robust analytical tools have the potential to revolutionize the agricultural sector by empowering farmers, reducing reliance on intermediaries, and fostering a more equitable trading environment.

In recent years, The vulnerability of agricultural products chain is been exposed because of the endlessly insecure events appeared in every areas and every degrees from the natural disasters on the each node operation of agricultural products supply chain in recently years. As an very important place of HUNAN Province because of its abundant agricultural products, the Eastern Area's security in agricultural products supply chain was related to the safety and stability of economic development in the entire region. In order to make the more objective, scientific, practical of risk management in the empirical analysis, This item is based on the AHP-FCS method to deal with the qualitative to quantitative analysis about risk management of agricultural product supply chain, to identify and evaluate the probability and severity of all the risk possibility.

PurposeThis article sheds light on the missing links concerning the study of using integrated enabling technologies toward sustainable and circular agriculture supply chains by examining the available literature and proposing future research possibilities.Design/methodology/approachThe relevant literature was researched through online databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, Academic Search Premier, Emerald, IEEE Xplore, Science Direct, World Scientific Net and Springer-Link Journals, covering a period from 1999 to 2020. A systematic literature review based on 75 papers analyzed the integration of the concepts of enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy and supply chain performance in agriculture supply chains.FindingsIt was identified that enabling technologies and agriculture supply chains alone have been explored further than integrated enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy, supply chain performance and agriculture supply chains. Enabling technologies and agriculture supply chains' main findings are: enabling technologies have been studied to improve food safety, food quality and traceability in agriculture supply chains. The main results regarding integrated enabling technologies, sustainability, circular economy, supply chain performance and agriculture supply chains are: Internet of Things and information communication technology play an important role in addressing food security, traceability and food quality, which help achieve sustainable development goals.Originality/valueThis review study provides 13 research questions to underpin future trends regarding integrated technologies' application in agriculture supply chains for circular and sustainable growth.

Today, food safety is a common concern in the world. As the main source of food, agricultural products’ safety is also worthy of attention. By establishing the vertical integration model of the agricultural product supply chain, the circulation links of agricultural products can be reduced, and the circulation efficiency and quality level of agricultural products can be improved. This paper assumes that under the condition of simple fresh agricultural products, there is only one wholesaler and one retailer in the agricultural product supply chain. Through the analysis of the economic model, it is concluded that the vertical integration of the agricultural product supply chain has a positive impact on the safety of agricultural products. With the improvement of the vertical integration of the supply agricultural products supply chain, the efforts of wholesalers and suppliers to ensure the safety of agricultural products have been improved, the circulation cost of agricultural products has been reduced, and the sales price of agricultural products has been reduced.

The development trend of economic integration and marketization, supply chain build-up and integration is becoming more and more important in the agricultural field.Nowadays, the integration of agricultural products supply chain in China is entering a whole new level.The contradiction under this level focuses on the consumers' benefits.The prices of agricultural product keep rising, which leads to consumers' benefit loss.The safety issue of agricultural product causes the loss of consumer trusts seriously, and finally influences the interests of producers.In recent years, the appeal of food safety gets more frequently, which will arise awareness of the whole society.How to protect customers' benefits by agricultural products supply chain build-up and integration has become a problem.The article is based on a case about practices of agricultural products supply chain management in a typical area, which takes vegetables and fruits supply chain as research sample, incomplete contract theory, marketing channel theory, customer value theory, and game theory.The goal is to protect consumers' interests, explore the model of agricultural products integration in China under the reality restriction, and to make improvement and innovation. The Application of Supply Chain Management Theory in Agricultural areasRecently, the idea of supply chain management has been brought into the agricultural fields.It arise awareness of scholars and managers.(Frank and Henderson, 1992) Compared to other product supply chain, the specialty of agricultural product supply chain is as below, as agricultural products have strong perishability, and the stability of the supply chain is weak, also because the products are consumed by people, the freshness and safety of the products are being paid more attention.Thus, improve the freshness and safety is becoming a very important issue of agricultural products supply chain management.(Yu Min and Nagumey, 2013) Recently, the idea of supply chain management has been brought into agricultural products transportation and sales in developing countries and areas.There are some successful cases in the countries and areas in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, for example, vegetables in Thailand, (Editors, 2001), Fruits in Vietnam (Mergenthaler et al., 2009), fruits in Mexico, Chili, and Costa Rico (Aksoy, 2005), horticulture in Kenya (Neven and Reardon, 2004).There are more and more cases showing that developing areas could improve their competency of agricultural products by supply chain build-up and integration innovation.The more important thing is that optimized supply chain systems can also benefits the weak ones in the upstream.(Edward et al., 2009) Since the 80s in the last century, the idea of agricultural products supply chain has been brought into China after the reform and opening-up policy.As the largest developing country in the world, the practices of agricultural products supply chain management are in the spotlight.(