Modelling and optimisation of Indian traditional agriculture supply chain to reduce post-harvest loss and CO2 emission

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reduce the post-harvest loss occurring through respiration and CO2 emission produce by the selected produces, during logistics. This paper proposes a supply chain (SC) structure for the Indian traditional agriculture SC planning model to reduce post-harvest loss and mixed closed transportation to reduce CO2 emission. Design/methodology/approach The Indian agriculture SC structure is modeled and solved by genetic algorithm using a MATLAB Optimization toolbox. The respiration rate is measured by a static method. These values are applied in an SC planning model and the post-harvest loss and its corresponding CO2 emission are estimated. Findings This paper proposes a supply structure for the Indian traditional agriculture SC to reduce the post-harvest loss; the experiments measured the respiration rate to estimate the CO2 emission. The mixed closed transportation method is found to be suitable for short-purpose domestic transportation. Research limitations/implications The optimized supply structure leads to unemployment through eliminating the intermediaries. Therefore, further research encourages the conversion of intermediaries into hub instead of eliminating them. Practical implications This paper includes implications for the development of Indian traditional agriculture SC by an optimized supply structure and novel transportation method for the selected agriculture produces based on compatibility. Originality/value This paper identified that the agriculture produces respiration can also emit the CO2. The closed transportation method can reduce the CO2 emission of produces respiration than traditional open transportation.