Using a supply chain approach to guide R&D

Consumers today are presented with an increasing array of products. The growing competition for consumer expenditure requires a whole of supply chain approach to maintain market share for existing cultivars and to successfully commercialise new cultivars. The supply chain needs to deliver value and satisfaction to the end customer and profitability to their members. Critical to getting the product right is developing inherent robustness into the cultivar, and developing processes and systems through the whole supply chain that maintain product quality and add value. This paper describes the approach we have used in working with supply chains in Australia and Indonesia to identify priority areas for improvement. Our experience demonstrates the need for a champion in the supply chain with significant influence and a desire to improve. The paper also describes our approach towards improving a specific supply chain to achieve successful commercialisation of a new cultivar. The cultivar was primarily selected for good production characteristics and attractive visual appeal. The performance of the fruit is being monitored from farm to retail shelf to identify points where quality is lost and practices can be improved. A targeted R&D program is investigating ways of improving production efficiency (nutrition, flowering and canopy management), maturity standards to optimise flavour, harvesting and packing practices to reduce skin damage, and ripening and handling practices to optimise shelf life. This integrated approach is based on similar approaches used to improve the performance of existing mango and avocado cultivars.

Integrated pest management and supply chain improvement for mangoes in the Philippines and Australia

This project will incorporate two strategies for improving industry sustainability in the Philippines and Australia: (a) developing improved field management and quarantine monitoring and detection of mango pests and diseases; and (b) working with selected mango supply chains to identify and test areas for improvement.

Improving Knowledge and Practices in Mango Supply Chains

Mangoes consigned to domestic markets suffered from fruit quality problems from 1997 to 2000. A high incidence of disease breakdown and green-ripe fruit resulted in loss of confidence by marketers, and reduced profits for everyone from grower to retailer. The ‘Better Mangoes’ project was initiated to identify where, and why quality was being lost, and to use this information to improve the knowledge and practices of supply chain businesses.

Strategic Analysis: A key factor in developing horticultural supply chains in transitional Asian economies

Globalisation is set to have a major impact on world horticultural production and distribution of fruit and vegetables throughout the world. In contrast to developing countries such as China, production and consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in most developed countries is relatively static. For developed countries, we are starting to see consolidation in the number of farms producing fruit and vegetables with falling or static prices and real farm incomes. Global supply chains are now dominated by a few large multi-national retailers supplied by preferred trans-national distribution companies. The major competitive advantages that are emerging are consistency of supply of high quality product over an extended season and the control of genetic resources and their marketing. To capture these new competitive advantages, new strategic analyses and planning processes must be implemented. In the past, strategic analyses and planning has been undertaken on an ad hoc basis without accurate global intelligence. In the future, working ‘on the supply chain’ will become equally, if not more important, than working ‘in the supply chain’. A revised approach to strategic planning, which encompasses and adjusts for the changes caused by globalisation, is urgently needed. A new 6-step strategic analyses process is described.

Improving knowledge and practices in fresh produce chains

A successful supply chain must delivery the right product, value and satisfaction to the end customer, and profitability for its participants. Critical to getting the product right is the practices used to produce and maintain product quality through the supply chain from production to sale to the end customer. This paper describes the approach used by a R&D team to add value to supply chains through improving knowledge and practices. The desired outcome is better produce quality for consumers and more control and less wastage for chain participants. The team worked with specific supply chains to identify areas for improvement and to develop, test and implement improved practices. The knowledge gained was communicated to the industry to gain wider adoption of results. Three conditions were identified as critical for practice change - motivation, knowledge, and capacity for change. For improvement in practices to occur, a business must be motivated and have the knowledge and capacity to improve. Two case studies of working with Australian supply chains (mango and melons) are presented to illustrate our participatory methodology. A key activity is monitoring produce quality and handling practices and conditions to demonstrate to participants the points where quality deterioration occurs in the supply chain. This participatory approach is successful because working with supply chain participants generates knowledge and solutions to real problems. It enables the participants to observe the effect of handling practices and conditions on produce quality, gain knowledge and assess the benefits of improvements. Where existing knowledge is not present, research is conducted to fill the knowledge gaps. IV International Conference on Managing Quality in Chains - The Integrated View on Fruits and Vegetables Quality

Equipping the mud crab industry with innovative skills through extension of best practice handling

Maximum adoption throughout the supply-chain of research findings that attained premium quality for live mud crabs.

Development of commercial application of an avocado fruit robustness test

Fruit quality is one of the major factors limiting growth in avocado retail sales. Avocado growers are often unaware of their end-use fruit quality since quality problems only manifest upon fruit ripening and growers receive limited feedback from the supply chain. If growers were aware of their expected fruit quality they would be equipped to make better marketing decisions and if necessary to take remedial actions to improve their fruit quality. Avotest is being developed as a quick and easy method of determining expected end-use fruit quality before the start of the commercial fruit harvest. The test aims at distinguishing between blocks with robust fruit and those with less robust fruit. The test could also be used to predict the resulting fruit quality after the implementation of new farming practices.

Investigating use of irradiation for disinfestation on Custard Apples

The ability to access new international markets particularly New Zealand is the focus of this project for the custard apple industry. Custard apple require a fruit fly disinfestation treatment to access New Zealand markets. Irradiation has shown to be an effective treatment in other fruits and has the potential to be introduced in a relatively short time frame. The project will assess the effect of irradiation on the quality and storage life of custard apples simulating an international supply chain.

Early season replacement for Imperial Mandarin CT09014

Imperial mandarin is the dominant variety in the early season production time slot in Australia. It is well known to consumers, wholesalers and supermarkets, and growers continue to make new plantings of this variety. Despite this popularity, Imperial has major faults that cause problems for growers, consumers, and at other points along the supply chain. Fruit of the variety can be severely granulated, and this is the main quality problem cited by consumers. A second problem with Imperial is its unsuitability for export. Thirdly, the variety has low juice and sugar content, and develops poor colour under warm conditions. We propose a hybridisation project to specifically address these industry obstacles.

ACIAR Pacific Agribusiness Research for Development Initiative (PARDI)

PARDI provides a platform for stronger economic growth of Pacific island countries. The initiative aims to substantially improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Pacific. Benefit to Queensland includes: 1) looking at supply chain (value chain) innovations for tropical horticultural commodities in both Queensland and the South Pacific to maintain competitiveness. 2) undertaking research on a product called canarium nut which is grown in the Solomon Islands. It is a new potential high value speciality product (similar to macadamia) in which macadamia industry partners are participating. 3) involvement in specific targeted supply chain business improvement with industry partners.

Driving better vegetable irrigation through profitable practice change

The availability and quality of irrigation water has become an issue limiting productivity in many Australian vegetable regions. Production is also under competitive pressure from supply chain forces. Producers look to new technologies, including changing irrigation infrastructure, exploring new water sources, and more complex irrigation management, to survive these stresses. Often there is little objective information investigating which improvements could improve outcomes for vegetable producers, and external communities (e.g. meeting NRM targets). This has led to investment in inappropriate technologies, and costly repetition of errors, as business independently discover the worth of technologies by personal experience. In our project, we investigated technology improvements for vegetable irrigation. Through engagement with industry and other researchers, we identified technologies most applicable to growers, particularly those that addressed priority issues. We developed analytical tools for ‘what if’ scenario testing of technologies. We conducted nine detailed experiments in the Lockyer Valley and Riverina vegetable growing districts, as well as case studies on grower properties in southern Queensland. We investigated root zone monitoring tools (FullStop™ wetting front detectors and Soil Solution Extraction Tubes - SSET), drip system layout, fertigation equipment, and altering planting arrangements. Our project team developed and validated models for broccoli, sweet corn, green beans and lettuce, and spreadsheets for evaluating economic risks associated with new technologies. We presented project outcomes at over 100 extension events, including irrigation showcases, conferences, field days, farm walks and workshops. The FullStops™ were excellent for monitoring root zone conditions (EC, nitrate levels), and managing irrigation with poor quality water. They were easier to interpret than the SSET. The SSET were simpler to install, but required wet soil to be reliable. SSET were an option for monitoring deeper soil zones, unsuitable for FullStop™ installations. Because these root zone tools require expertise, and are labour intensive, we recommend they be used to address specific problems, or as a periodic auditing strategy, not for routine monitoring. In our research, we routinely found high residual N in horticultural soils, with subsequently little crop yield response to additional nitrogen fertiliser. With improved irrigation efficiency (and less leaching), it may be timely to re-examine nitrogen budgets and recommendations for vegetable crops. Where the drip irrigation tube was located close to the crop row (i.e. within 5-8 cm), management of irrigation was easier. It improved nitrogen uptake, water use efficiency, and reduced the risk of poor crop performance through moisture stress, particularly in the early crop establishment phases. Close proximity of the drip tube to the crop row gives the producer more options for managing salty water, and more flexibility in taking risks with forecast rain. In many vegetable crops, proximate drip systems may not be cost-effective. The next best alternative is to push crop rows closer to the drip tube (leading to an asymmetric row structure). The vegetable crop models are good at predicting crop phenology (development stages, time to harvest), input use (water, fertiliser), environmental impacts (nutrient, salt movement) and total yields. The two immediate applications for the models are understanding/predicting/manipulating harvest dates and nitrogen movements in vegetable cropping systems. From the economic tools, the major influences on accumulated profit are price and yield. In doing ‘what if’ analyses, it is very important to be as accurate as possible in ascertaining what the assumed yield and price ranges are. In most vegetable production systems, lowering the required inputs (e.g. irrigation requirement, fertiliser requirement) is unlikely to have a major influence on accumulated profit. However, if a resource is constraining (e.g. available irrigation water), it is usually most profitable to maximise return per unit of that resource.

A framework for optimising capital investment and operations in livestock logistics

Despite the longevity, scale and importance of northern Australia's beef industry, recent disruptions to external markets have demonstrated a degree of vulnerability to shocks in the supply chain. Matching the industry's long-evident resilience to climatic variability with resilience to changes in markets and supply chains requires careful planning. One component of this is how investments in infrastructure will need to be planned to facilitate adaptive responses to market changes. This paper provides an outline of a modelling framework that links strategic and operational dynamic models of logistics along the supply chain from the property to the abattoir or port. A novelty of the methodology is that it takes into account the high granularity of individual livestock transport vehicle movements and the ability to scale up to an almost complete view of logistics costs across the entire beef industry of northern Australia. The paper illustrates how the methodology could be used to examine the effects of changes in logistics infrastructure on efficiency and costs using examples from the states of Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.

The avocado problem solver field guide

This guide has been produced to assist Australian avocado growers and others involved in the avocado supply chain to identify the wide range of pests, diseases, nutrient deficiencies and toxicitites, and other disorders that may affect orchards and the quality of fruit reaching the consumer

Planet of the cavendish - understanding the domination

Those seeking to bring change to cultivars sold in the banana markets of the world have encountered major difficulties over the years. Change has been sought because of production difficulties caused by banana diseases such as Fusarium wilt or a desire to invigorate a stagnant market and obtain a competitive advantage by the introduction of diversity of product. Currently the world banana scene is dominated by cultivars from the Cavendish subgroup with their production in excess of 40% of total world production of banana and plantain combined, and in most western countries Cavendish is synonymous with banana. But Cavendish production usually necessitates very regular applications of pesticides, particularly fungicides for Mycosphaerella leaf spots control. So genetic resistance to these and other diseases would be very beneficial to minimizing costs of production, as well as reducing health risks to banana workers and the general population and minimizing impacts on the environment. In recent years, the overall market sales of some crops, such as tomatoes, have increased by providing diversity of cultivars to consumers. Can the same be done for banana? Perhaps a better understanding of how we have arrived at our current situation and the forces that have shaped our preference for Cavendish will allow us to plan more strategic crop improvement research which has enhanced chances of adoption by the banana industries of the world. A scoping study was recently undertaken in Australia to determine the current market opportunity for alternative cultivars and provide a roadmap for the industry to successfully develop this market. A multidisciplinary team reviewed the literature, surveyed the supply chain, analyzed gross margins and conducted consumer and sensory evaluations of 'new' cultivars. This has provided insight on why Cavendish dominates the market, which is the focus of this paper, and we believe will provide a solid foundation for future progress.

Postharvest manual answers many questions

Many authors have noted that consumer confidence in buying fresh flowers is strongly related to their perceived value in that quality and vase life must be high and consistent over time for consumers to repeat buy. Growers, wholesalers, exporters and retailers seek practical information about recommended handling and treatments at the harvest and postharvest stages, including that relating to flowers native to Australia and South Africa ("wildflowers"). This information is essential for products to be of high quality with an acceptable vase life for the end consumer, especially if exported. Published postharvest manuals generally focus on traditional flower crops and so rarely include many, or any, wildflowers. A manual entitled Postharvest Handling of Australian flowers from Native Plants and Related Species was published in 2002 and addressed this gap, but required updating. This situation presented an opportunity to provide in-depth information to compliment the Australian wildflower quality specifications (see accompanying paper in the same volume), and to assemble the latest knowledge on wildflower quality and postharvest issues. The resultant manual contains extensive information about harvesting, quality issues and recommended postharvest care focussed on wildflowers. Much of the information is documented for the first time, being based on the most up to date research and development (R&D) as well as practical experience of the floral supply chain, researchers and other technical experts. The manual provides practical and detailed information on postharvest treatment of fresh wildflowers for growers, florists, wholesalers and exporters to use on a daily basis. It discusses the many unique features of wildflowers that must be understood and managed in order to maximise their quality and vase life after marketing and export. The manual also includes postharvest advice for 16 flower- and foliage lines for which quality specifications were not produced. This advice is presented according to the same template as the specifications.