Introduction
Banana is one of the main horticultural products that are produced in the Australian market. Apart from that, this is one of the most consumed products with the statistics indicating that over 95% of the population has access to bananas. The large number of small scale farmers coupled with the establishment of the large plantations has been imperative in ensuring that there is mass production in order to meet the demand from the market. One of the main challenges at times has been the mixed supply chains that are used to deliver the products to the market. One of the major challenges is that bananas are mostly transported by the tracks. This kind of road transportation has various weaknesses owing to the fact that bad weather affects the transport network. This therefore means that the market does not have enough bananas to feed the large number of consumers.
It is indicated that when the supply becomes low, the price of bananas increase. This on the other hand impacts negatively on the consumers (Putland, p. 46). Certain food supply chain involves the farmers, agents, large wholesalers, retailers and then the consumers. However, the Australian banana supply chain is focusing on reducing the number of the intermediaries in order to stabilize the prices as well as mitigate the damage to the bananas before they reach the final consumers. The other main challenge that has to be addressed is the issue of increasing the supply of bananas by encouraging more irrigation programs. This is owing to the fact that poor weather has been a major setback to the banana industry in Australia. Secondly, the government through the ministry of agriculture is looking for ways through which the farmers can be given the incentives in order to increase the productivity. This is especially when they are affected by bad weather resulting in losses.
Banana is the most consumed horticultural product in Australian market. This is supported by the fact that almost the whole population has a banana at least a day. This is represented by over 95% of the general population (Putland, p. 82). To meet this demand, there is need for mass production and an efficient supply chain in order to reach the consumers on time. Statistics indicate that the small scale farmers are the main suppliers of the bananas within the Australian market. North Queensland is the religion that is said to be very productive (Pratley & Hay, p. 78). It is the core region from where most of the bananas come from. Ingham is said to be one of the most productive region supplying the highest percent to the market. It is therefore imperative to note that most of the bananas are grown from the northern part of the country and have to be transported to the southern part. This is owing to the fact that most of the towns and population is found in the southern parts. For that reason, it is imperative to have an elaborate transport network that …