Banana seems to be a common fruit that can be found in many tropical
countries around the world, especially in Asia. Have you ever thought that
bananas play a significant role for the nation as a whole?
According to “India bananas seek bigger share of global market”, Sivaramakrishnan
says that due to an enormous number of bananas produced in Tamil Nadu, the
southern part of India, the Confederation of India Industries (CII) plans to
grab more market share in the worldwide banana industry by exporting them globally.
Nevertheless, the barriers of this plan have been pointed out, including, post-harvest
losses, a trust deficit, a low-tech productivity and competitive rivalry.
From my perspective, in order to
effectively deal with the problems mentioned in this news, trust is one of the
most vital issues which the CII, and also any relevant sectors, should not take
for granted. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is what I learned in the
Business course at my university. We have to concern about all stakeholders in
the supply chain otherwise our business is prone to be in trouble. During my
internship at Ministry of Commerce, for instance, there were protests of farmer
unions almost every week. Some of them wondered whether they directly gained
benefits from the policies while some suspected about the possibility of the
schemes. In this case, the CII may help Indian banana growers solve some
problems about the production or acknowledge them about advantages which they
will gain when this plan is succeeded. If the CII cannot build trust, there
will be no cooperation thus it’s no use trying to accomplish its plan.
Turning to post-harvest losses,
banana normally ripens faster than other kinds of fruits. When I bought bananas
from supermarket, their green colour at times turns into yellow quickly. I am
fascinated by the bananas food processing. There are various kinds of those
transformed products in Thailand, namely, banana chips, banana ice-cream,
sun-dried banana and butter coated banana. I think there would be great
opportunities for India to expand the banana product line and an amount of
post-harvest losses tends to be declined.
Regarded as the largest banana producing country, India
should find some efficient means to obtain competitive advantages from its own
natural resources. Not only the CII but also Indian banana growers need to take
responsibility for this issue together.
__________
Reference
I do know much about marketing system.However, I studied in high school that the more goods, the cheaper. So it means that Indian banana will be cheaper and gain more competitive capacity, right? But why don't producers produce a unique goods which has higher value instead?
ReplyDeleteMoreover, for CSR, personally, I think it is one of the marketing plan which is an advertisement with social activity. That means all company activities are for commercial purpose. Therefore, I quite dislike financial topic.
In terms of post-harvest technology, there is a simple scientific way to lengthen the shelf life of banana from http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/PFfruits/Banana/.
From my point of view, adding product value is one of the potential solutions for banana industry in India, considered as a long-term plan. However, the growers still need to export their products globally since it will take some time for Indian people to learn about how to increase the value of bananas. Moreover, a great deal of money will be needed for R&D and investment of new businesses involving in value adding processes. So, in the short-term plan, it seems to be better if India successfully expands the market by using their competitive advantages of the economy of scale.
DeleteCSR has been a controversial issue in past decade. Many companies' campaigns are associated with CSR because it is believed that creating good image in customers' minds will finally affect their buying decision. I personally disagree with some purposes of CSR too.
About CSR, I feel the same way that Ob'does. The main purpose of CSR policy of the big company is to create positive image of their brand in the consumer's mind. Although they did spend some part of their budget supporting some social activities, or non profit organization, they spent much larger amount to public their action. I used to work in the process of making TV commercial, I am sure that the money they spent on making a coorperate ad is far higher than what they spent on help buliding small weirs in the country side.
ReplyDeleteWe know already the problem of successful harvest does not guarranttee the profit of the producers in the agricultural industry. Especilly, like that banana, not necessary special technic to grow it and having good harvest in red ocean; it's necessary to find out alternative way for the producers. Of course I like banana I also would like to enjoy the sweet taste in the far future .
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea about improve agricultural product by transform. It increase a profit and value of product. And I think banana is easy to grow, so O think it's not hard to improve a quality and quatity. Maybe changing the way of cultivation to be organic will make it more popular.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of organic products. Actually, in the market, you see some bananas are sold as higher price than others with organic stickers. Someday, the organic products might take the all market share.
ReplyDeleteAs one of consumers, I'm worrying who guarantee the organic things and how I trust them.