バンガロールを中心とした農産物供給体系

Fresh fruit and vegetables used to be supplied to the city centers chiefly from suburban agricultural villages because they are perishable but, in recent years, their long distance transportation has become as popular. Researchers, using a commodity chain approach, pointed out that a driving force behind the changes is the presence of developed countries where consumers actively demand fresh fruit and vegetables, and especially when they demand it all year including off-season. The researchers also pointed out ensuing problems between the affluent consuming regions and the producing regions. This study also focused on this approach and examined it from a geographical viewpoint. The author tried to improve interpretations of commodity chain approach on the food supply system in India, with special focus on fresh fruit and vegetables.<BR>The first concern is the regional organization of the supply system of agricultural products. The system is between the suppliers of seasonal fruit and vegetables and consumers in cities who want fresh fruit and vegetable throughout the year. Although fresh fruit and vegetables used to be provided by the local suppliers, a year-round supply system has been created in Bangalore. Arrivals from distant suppliers with high productivity meet the demands between harvests in Bangalore; potatoes come from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and onions come from Maharashtra. Every state is one of the leading production centers in India today. This agro-food system is similar to developed country's in that transactions between production centers and huge consuming cities are brought into the heart of the supply and demand system of fresh fruit and vegetables. It must be noted that agricultural products from remote leading centers can be supplied at a lower price than local products.<BR>The second concern is the role of the consuming sector. As in the commodity chain approach, the author placed importance on the purchasing power of Bangalore, which is a developing city. Surveys on wholesale markets in the city show that the consuming sector has a considerable influence on the distribution systems of fresh vegetables. These are good illustrations of potatoes,onions and tomatoes abundant even off-season in Karnataka. This contrasts with agricultural products that can be stored for a long time, such as cereals and spices.<BR>The third concern is the organizer who developed such a new supply system of fresh vegetables. Under the climate condition and the spread of technology in transportation, preservation and information, long distance transportations of fresh vegetables are difficult in India. Thus it required incurring not small costs. In former studies of commodity chain analyses, buyers such as retailers in developed countries covered the costs and drove the chain of fresh vegetable supply, but maturation of the retailing industry cannot be seen in India in comparison to developed countries. We are unable to have sufficient discussion about who developed and drove the new system in this paper, but it needs to consider for the future.<BR>As the result, the framework between affluent consumers in developed countries and the developing countries, which are dependent upon them, can be used in studies of agro-food systems within a developing country, though this framework has been adopted mainly on a global scale by researchers using a commodity chain approach.