In a rapidly globalising world, competition is no longer among independent firms, but among their respective supply chain networks. The agriculture supply chain network in India is in poor condition and is characterised by inefficiency, exploitation and wastage at different levels. Creating an unbroken chain specific to a certain region and commodity, would go a long way in improving the lot of farmers everywhere.

In its endeavor to finance a complete supply chain network, ICICI Bank has financed the setting up of an end-to-end supply chain project with Adani Agri Fresh Limited (AAFL) in Himachal Pradesh. In its first phase, the Cold Chain project has focused on apples since they can be stored in Controlled Atmosphere (CA) technology for close to a year. The differential between price at the farm gate during peak season and that at the end consumer level in the off season is often three times higher. This leaves plenty of scope for greater value addition and efficiency gains between the consumer, the producers and the company.

AAFL will also be providing its services to farmers, traders and agents for storage, logistics and marketing and thereby reduce storage and commodity risk. As with all other experiments in facilitating rural infrastructure development, this project too can be replicated in diverse parts of the country for other commodities.