This study looks at how wheat is managed in the supply chain (SCM) in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, which is a very important agricultural area in the state. Kangra is the main district for growing wheat, accounting for around 27% of the total area and output. This means that the effectiveness of its wheat supply chain is very important for the food security of the region and the livelihoods of farmers. The study looks at the socio-economic traits of wheat farmers, figures out the costs and profits of growing wheat, looks at the costs, margins, and value added at different points in the supply chain, and finds the main problems that wheat farmers and marketing middlemen face in the Kangra Valley. A multistage random sample method was used to choose 80 wheat growers at random from 10 villages, with five villages each from two randomly determined development blocks. The research utilized both primary and secondary data sources. Structured and pre-tested schedules were used to conduct human interviews to acquire primary data about input use, output costs, and returns. Additionally, marketing-related data were collected from chosen market intermediaries, comprising traders, wholesalers, processors, and retailers, with five respondents selected from each category to evaluate marketing strategies and limitations. We got secondary data from official government reports and the Statistical Abstracts of Himachal Pradesh. We used the right statistical methods, like basic averages, percentages, and ratios, to analyze the data and figure out applied cost concepts and farm-level economic performance. The results revealed that farmers in Kangra farms are small typically holding less than one hectare. This suggested that a limited capacity for large scale mechanization and a need for subsistence- focused agricultural strategies. Literacy rates among farm heads are generally high exceeding 90 per cent with large farms having slightly higher literacy percentage than small farms implying that farmers are educated and trained and are likely receptive to technical and improved production technology. Agriculture remains a primary occupation in the study area. The land use pattern of the sampled households suggested that wheat growers in the region were primarily relied on cultivated land which was 81.43 per cent in overall farm situation, with irrigation support ( around 81 per cent) playing a crucial role in crop production. The cropping structure showed wheat occupied the major share in the rabi season across all farm categories, an overall proportion of 39.04 per cent of the gross cropped area. Among kharif crops, maize emerged as the dominant cereal, covering 25.27 per cent of the total cropped area, followed by paddy accounting for 12.83 per cent. The cropping intensity was worked out to be 187.67 per cent for small farmers and 192.34 per cent for large farmers, with an overall value of 190.32 per cent, indicating multiple cropping practices in the study area. The average family size was approximately 5.7 to 6.0 members with a high proportion of adults nearly 65 per cent in overall farm situation. This indicated that a strong availability of family labour, which is critical for labour intensive hill agriculture. Nuclear families were more prevalent comprising of 58.75 per cent of households in the overall farms situation. Investment in farm implements and tools is a critical factor enhancing agricultural productivity by improving operational efficiency and reducing labour costs. In this regard, it was found that an investment in farm machinery and implements in the study area had an increasing trend and positive correlation with farm size. The small farms invested on an average of Rs. 2, 76,977.81 per farm, whereas large farms invested substantially more, averaging Rs. 3, 65,758.23 per farm. The economic and profitability assessment of wheat cultivation in the Kangra Valley showed that the district is the most important part of the state's wheat economy. It has 86,493 hectares of land under cultivation and produces 192,804 metric tonnes of wheat, which is a big part of the state's total production. The analysis showed that the total cost of cultivation (Cost C3) was ₹71,496.46 per hectare for small holdings and ₹77,510.80 per hectare for large holdings, with a mean of ₹74,278.09 per hectare. The total cost for Cost A1 was ₹43,854.31 per hectare, and for Cost B2 it was ₹59,740.48 per hectare. The average yield of wheat on farms was 38.35 quintals per hectare, which brought in gross returns of ₹115,735.95 per hectare. The highest gross profits were for large farms (₹121,718.00 per hectare), followed by small farms (₹110,588.61 per hectare). Farm business income, farm labor income, net farm income, and farm investment income were all used to measure production efficiency. All of these were highest among large-scale farmers. The overall output–input ratio was 1.56, and the break-even yield and break-even revenue were 30.95 quintals per hectare and ₹52,968.26 per hectare, respectively. These results indicate that larger agricultural holdings attain slightly enhanced efficiency and profitability in wheat production relative to smaller farms. The study aimed to identify the primary wheat supply chains in the mid-hill regions of the Kangra Valley and to analyze the functions of various market intermediaries responsible for transporting wheat from producers to end consumers, including their marketing expenses, profit margins, price differentials, marketing effectiveness, and the producer's share of the consumer's expenditure. Supply chains were classified based on the creation of form, place, time, and possession utilities, leading to the identification of three distinct marketing channels within the study area. Channel II, which goes from producer to primary wholesaler to secondary wholesaler to retailer to consumer, was the most popular way to buy and sell wheat, making up 56.86% of all transactions. The study showed that Channel III (producer → local trader/commission agent → flour miller → retailer → consumer) had the biggest pricing spread since it had the most marketing margin (19.84%). Channel I, on the other hand, where producers sold directly to customers, had the largest producer's share in the consumer's rupee (97.73%) and the lowest in Channel III (62.88%). This shows how having more middlemen can affect the price. Channel I also had the best marketing efficiency (42.99%) since there were fewer middlemen, which cut expenses and helped farmers get better prices. The findings show that having more middlemen makes marketing more expensive and less profitable for producers, which lowers their returns and makes the whole channel less efficient. The amount of value added to wheat was very different in the several supply chains that were found. The results showed that the largest value was added at the processing stage, especially in Channel III, where it reached 23.79%. The least value was added at the trader level, where it was just 4.90%. So, Channel III, which includes processing operations, had the most value added overall. In Channel II, intermediaries added value at different stages, from 5.50% at the retailer stage to 7.28% at the secondary wholesaler level. Channel III, on the other hand, showed a greater range, with value addition going from 4.90% at the trader level to 23.79% at the wheat miller stage before the goods got to stores and then to customers. These findings indicate that prolonged marketing chains, encompassing merchants and processors, yield enhanced value addition within the wheat supply system of the research area. The results show that farmers could benefit from making direct connections with processors or flour mills. This would let them take part in value-added activities and get a bigger share of the value created, which would increase their income and overall returns. Analysis of the supply chain in Kangra reveals several bottlenecks: While, cultivators were mainly constrained by production risks, dependency on middlemen, and limited bargaining power; intermediaries encountered transportation challenges, price volatility and infrastructural hurdles. The analysis thus indicated that both production and marketing hurdles significantly affect productivity and profitability and efficiency of wheat supply chain. Addressing these constraints through improved seed distribution, labour management, better market linkage, and development of infra-structure and processing facilities could enhance the overall performance of wheat sector.
Mahajan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.