The ‘Farm to Fork’ chain, encompassing production, harvesting, storage, processing, packaging and sales, has seen emphasis shifting from efficiencies and effectiveness to a plethora of areas like hygiene, food safety and sustainability. From being features of exclusivity in the food economy, these aspects have now become the basic requirements.

1. T
he ‘Farm to Fork’ chain, encompassing
production, harvesting, storage,
processing, packaging and sales, has
seen emphasis shifting from efficiencies
and effectiveness to a plethora of
areas like hygiene, food safety and
sustainability. From being features of
exclusivity in the food economy, these
aspects have now become the basic
requirements.
The global milling conference addressing grain production
and distribution, food quality and processing while protecting
the environment, aptly covered these areas which are extremely
relevant given the current dynamics on both the supply
and demand sides for the milling industry in India, further
accentuated by the recent food hygiene and regulation related
issues.
As regards to quality and environment, the ‘Farm to Fork’ chain
is beset with a host of complexities. Gone are the days when a
fist full of grain verified for colour and odour sufficed the millers’
requirement and a bite with the teeth gave an indication of the
moisture, today we have to contend with a host of contaminants –
pesticides residues, heavy metals, dyes and additives and so on.
On the environment front, pollution and contamination
problems apart from energy related issues are to be addressed.
How do we cope with this situation? Who takes the
responsibility and what are the solutions?
Firstly, Food Safety and Environment Protection needs to
become a norm. It is no longer an exception but a necessity.
Secondly, millers need to realise that the end product can be of
the desired quality and safety, only when all legs of the chain are
compliant to the norms of Food Safety and Sustainability.
Finally, it has to be everybody’s responsibility across the
‘Farm to Fork’ chain to honour food quality and environment
protection - farmer, miller and brand owner, all put together.
Amongst the key reasons for this thrust on food safety, quality
and environment protection are:
• Customer health and well being
• Food security for future – healthy and sustainable food chains
• Preservation of bio diversity – ecological balance
• Energy efficiency and conservation of natural resources
• Managing the complexity of fragmented production and multi-
origin sourcing
• Global competitiveness – market access by bridging the gap
with mature markets
• Brand Equity and market standing
Towards the goal of creating an absolutely safe and responsible
food chain we need to focus on the agri value chain. Today we
have a scenario where the international brands are either catering
to the high end luxury segment or they are over dependent on
Integrity across the
‘farm to fork’ chain
by D V R Rajiv Mohan, Vice President – Commodities, ITC Limited
– Agri Business Division, Hyderabad, India
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42 | October 2015 - Milling and Grain

2. global supply chains. This leaves out substantial value creation
from India. Millers and brand owners need to focus on creating
sustainable agri chains in India that enable larger value capture in
the economy.
Food Safety and Environment Protection - Farm
My experience in the Agri Business is that there is a high
sensitivity to price and the general focus is on what happens
within the mill/factory. From a longer term perspective, the
thrust has to be more on ‘farm gate’ rather than ‘factory gate’.
The interventions requiring emphasis are :
• Agro climatic zone mapping – prioritisation of crop basis
suitability of soils and weather
• Moving from factory gate to farm gate – agronomic
interventions of improvement of quality and productivity
• Threshold based intervention – use of inputs to the extent
required after analysing the problem
• R&D at the fulcrum of stakeholder cohesiveness – every leg
of the farm chain needs to have R&D support with active
participation by all stakeholders
• Customised farm storage solutions – this could be a game
changing intervention if properly analysed and implemented
with emphasis on cost competitiveness
Food Safety and Environment Protection – Post Farm
Apart from quality and price, there must be focus on building
systems and processes as well as on compliance – by everyone, at
all stages.
The interventions requiring emphasis are -
• Balancing on the price and quality with compliance – there needs
to be a shift from ‘cheaper the better’to ‘compliant the better’
• Standardisation of norms and processes - these need to reflect
the ground realities of agrarian economy and infrastructure
• Building traceability - one of the pre requisite of these would
be the standardisation of quality norms
• Stakeholder engagement - farmers, vendors and customers
need to be aware and willing to participate
Need for an integrated approach
A compliant ‘Farm to Fork’ chain with thrust on food quality
and environment safety can only be the product of an integrated
approach with focused interventions along the agri value chain
and adequate infrastructure with apt systems and processes. The
laws and regulations must be in sync with the agri value chain
realities with active participation by brand owners and retail
chains.
A move towards sustainable food economy would lead to
enhanced farm incomes and better focus on value addition with
the reduction in wastages and inefficiencies.
We must let the consumers make an informed choice in favour
of sellers of safe food products through sustainable means.
Milling and Grain - October 2015 | 43
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