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Product quality standardization is the solution to market collapses due to quality-insensitive pricing regimes prevalent in West African (WA) rice value chains. However, access to local rice that is differentiated by quality standards is limited. This paper explores feasibility of quality standardization of local rice and evaluates how its price–quality connecting effect depends on retailer characters/reactions.

This study uses panel data from a wholesale randomized control trial (RCT) and three surveys of 135 rice retailers in Ghana.

Improved local food value chains and access to quality differentiated products are impactful entry points for import substitution policies. The strength of interretailer competition, retail infrastructure and wholesaler activities matter for a stronger connection of prices and quality, given uptake of quality-standardized local rice.

Access to quality-differentiated local rice can be increased via private and third-party certification. This addresses the prevailing inefficient pricing and its related problems. The positive impacts of such access would be magnified by designing quality certification interventions to elicit regular-frequent purchases by retailers and target retailers with adequate retail infrastructure in high competition areas. However, this study only explored profitability and opportunities for strategic behavior as the behavioral basis for quality-sensitive pricing. Other impact mechanisms could be explored in further research that includes consumer data.

Despite their difficulty and limited use in value chains studies, RCT and panel data methods are used. This study is the first to empirically analyze feasibility of introducing product standardization, a missing institution in the WA local rice markets.

The study aims to analyze the impact of market participation on small paddy farmers' income and consumption expenditure. The study also estimates various determinants affecting the market participation of smallholders. Further, the study computes the efficiency of different paddy marketing channels and identifies the determinants that impact the marketing channel selection of paddy growers in Eastern India.

The study used the propensity score matching (PSM) approach to measure the impact of market participation on farm income and per capita consumption. Further, the study employed Acharya and Aggarwal's composite index approach to estimate the marketing efficiency of various paddy marketing channels. Further, a multinomial logit model was used to determine the marketing channel selection constraints.

The outcomes indicate that market participation positively impacts farm income and consumption expenditure. Education, membership in farmers' organizations, price information and distance to the marketplace significantly affect farmers' market participation. The results show that the producer–retailer marketing channel is the most efficient compared to others. However, most paddy farmers sell paddy to farmgate collectors due to a lack of market information, vehicle ownership, storage system, and inability to take the risk of venturing out of the farmgate into markets.

The study uses primary data and captures only farmers' perspectives to measure the impact of market participation, marketing channel efficiency and determinants for market channel selection. The other stakeholder's perceptions can be included in future studies.

Rarely does any study identifies the efficiency of different marketing channels for paddy farmers in India and includes cognitive factors like risk perception and trust in buyers as constraints for market channel selection.

Improving the competitiveness of East Africa's rice industries necessitates increased and viable production of rice of the quality desired by consumers. This paper aims to understand consumer preferences for rice quality attributes in Uganda and Kenya to inform the countries' rice breeding programs and value chain development interventions.

Rice samples are obtained from retail markets in various districts/counties across the two countries. The samples are analyzed in a grain quality laboratory for the rice's physicochemical characteristics and the resulting data are used to non-parametrically estimate hedonic price functions. District/county dummies are included to account for potential heterogeneity in consumer preferences.

Ugandan consumers are willing to pay a price premium for rice with a relatively high proportion of intact grains, but the consumers discount chalkiness. Kenyan consumers discount high amylose content and impurities. There is evidence of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for rice in Mbale, Butaleja and Arua districts of Uganda and in Kericho and Busia counties of Kenya.

The study makes a novel contribution to the literature on consumer preferences for rice in East Africa by applying a hedonic pricing model to the data generated from a laboratory analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of rice samples obtained from the market. Rather than base our analysis on consumers' subjective sensory assessment of the quality characteristics of rice, standard laboratory methods are used to generate the data, which enables a more objective assessment of the relationship between market prices and the quantities of attributes present in the rice samples.

Three-dimentional (3D) food printers are innovative technologies that contribute to healthy, personalized and stainable nutrition. However, many consumers are still vigilant about 3D printed food in the age of technology. The purpose of this study is to develop a scale and propose a model for consumption preferences associated with 3D-printed food (3DPF).

The developed questionnaire was handed to 192 Z and Y generation participants (Data1) for the exploratory factor analysis stage initially. Then, the questionnaire was handed to another group of 165 participants (Data 2) for verification by confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, the dimensions “healthy and personalized nutrition,” “sustainable nutrition” and “socio-cultural nutrition” were analyzed by structural equation modeling.

The results indicated that there was a high relationship between “healthy and personalized nutrition” and “sustainable nutrition” as well as between “sustainable nutrition” and “socio-cultural nutrition” when 3DPF was considered.

The study would contribute to the new survey area related to 3DPF by presenting a scale and proposing a model. Also, the study reveals which nutritional factors affect the Z and Y generation’s consumption of 3DPF. In this context, the study aims to make marketing contributions to the food production, restaurant and hotel sectors.

3D食品打印机是创新技术, 有助于健康、个性化和可持续的营养。然而, 在科技时代, 许多消费者仍然对3D打印食品保持警惕。本研究的目的是开发一个刻画与3D打印食品相关的消费偏好的量表并提出一个模型。

本研究首先将开发的问卷交给192名Z和Y世代参与者（数据1）进行探索性因素分析阶段。然后, 将问卷交给另一组165名参与者（数据2）通过验证性因素分析进行验证。最后, 通过结构方程模型分析了“健康和个性化营养”、“可持续营养”和“社会文化营养”这三个维度。

结果表明, 在考虑3D打印食品时, “健康和个性化营养”与“可持续营养”之间以及“可持续营养”与“社会文化营养”之间存在很高的关系。

本研究通过提出一个量表并提出一个模型, 为与3D打印食品相关的新调查领域做出了贡献。此外, 研究揭示了影响Z和Y世代对3D打印食品消费的营养因素。在这一背景下, 本研究旨在为食品生产、餐厅和酒店等领域做出营销贡献。

The purpose of this study is to determine the viability of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1 (L. rhamnosus GR-1) in five yogurt samples with or without quinoa, chickpea, soybean and rice flour over various fermentation periods and refrigerated storage durations, with a focus on exploring the potential of functional foods, which provide health benefits beyond nutritional value. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate consumer acceptance of yogurt fortified with functional flour. Using a nine-point hedonic scale, from 1 (dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely), participants rated appearance, flavour, texture and overall acceptability.

The samples were inoculated with the probiotic strain L. rhamnosus GR-1 and fermented for 0, 2, 4 and 6 h at 38°C, followed by refrigerated storage at 4°C for 1, 15 and 30 days, respectively. Microbial enumeration was performed throughout fermentation and storage to assess the viability of L. rhamnosus GR-1. A sensory evaluation involving 86 participants was conducted to assess the consumer acceptability of the yogurt samples.

Notably, L. rhamnosus GR-1 achieved viable counts of 108 colony-forming units per mL in all treatments at all fermentation time points. Over the 30-day storage period, no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in average pH values were observed among the five treatments, and within each treatment, pH levels remained stable, with an overall mean of 4.2 ± 0.64. Treatment 4, which featured rice flour fortification, received higher hedonic scores from sensory panellists in terms of appearance, flavour, texture and overall acceptability. These findings indicate that incorporating functional flours in conjunction with cow’s milk effectively promotes and preserves the viability of L. rhamnosus GR-1 in yogurt.

Exploring the potential of probiotic yogurt enriched with diverse functional flours to enhance nutritional content and health benefits as well as attract new consumers, this study addressed a critical gap in understanding consumer perceptions and generated insights for creating innovative and health-promoting dairy products.

The purpose of this paper is to study Al-based green composite. To make composite samples of aluminium alloy (AA3105) with different weight percentages of rice husk ash (RHA) and eggshell (ES) particles as reinforcement, stir casting method was used.

Several other aspects, including the weight percent of reinforcing agent particles, the applied stress and the sliding speed, were taken into consideration. During the course of the wear test, the sliding distance that was recorded varied from a minimum of 1,000 m all the way up to a maximum of 3,135 m (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min). The typical range for normal loads is 8–24 N, and their speed is 1.58 m/s.

With the AA/ES/RHA composite, the wear rates decreases when the grain size of the reinforcing particles enhanced. Scanning electron microscopy images of worn surfaces show that at low speeds, delaminating and ploughing are the main causes of wear. At high speeds, ploughing is major cause of wear. Composites with better wear-resistant properties can be used in wide range of tribological applications, especially in the automotive industry. It was found that hardness increases at the same time as the weight of the reinforcement increases. Tensile and hardness were maximized at 10% reinforcement mix in Al3105.

In this work, ES and RHA has been used to develop green metal matrix composite to support green revolution as promoted/suggested by United Nations thus reducing the environmental pollution.

This study examines the drivers of marketing channel participation amongst smallholder rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana.

Using a sample of 397 smallholder rice farmers drawn from a multistage sampling procedure, the study employed multivariate probit (MVP) model in the empirical estimations. In this context, the model assumes that a rice farmer should at least participate in one market channel.

The study reveals that the wholesaler market channel is the most commonly used channel among farmers, followed by the aggregator channel. However, the processor market channel is the least patronized one in the study area. The results also show statistically significant correlation coefficients in four out of the six possible combinations, implying that market channel participation among smallholder farmers is not mutually exclusive. Rice market channel participation is positively and significantly influenced by age, gender, household headship, access to credit, extension service, irrigation, improved seed and access to price information.

This study is limited in extending the analysis to include the impact of market channels on some outcome measures. This is due to data limitation.

The findings of this study add to the growing literature on smallholder market channel participation in Ghana.

The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the barriers associated with the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in agricultural supply chains.

The study initially identified thirteen barriers by conducting a literature review and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. Subsequently, these barriers were validated and modeled using an integrated Fuzzy Delphi-ISM approach. Finally, MICMAC analysis was employed to categorize the barriers into distinct clusters.

The results provide considerable insights into the hierarchical structure and complex interrelationships between the barriers as well the driving and dependence power of barriers. Lack of information about technologies and lack of compatibility with traditional methods emerged as the two main barriers which directly and indirectly influence the other ones.

The robust hybrid Fuzzy Delphi and ISM techniques used in this study can serve as a useful model and benchmark for similar studies probing the barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption. From a theoretical standpoint, this study expands the scope of institutional theory in explaining Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.

The study is timely for the post-COVID-19 recovery and growth of the agricultural sector. The findings are helpful for policymakers and agriculture supply chain stakeholders in devising new strategies and policy interventions to prioritize and address Industry 4.0 adoption barriers.

It is the first comprehensive, multi-country and multi-method empirical study to comprehensively identify and model barriers to Industry 4.0 adoption in agricultural supply chains in emerging economies.

This study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural production in South India by evaluating the influence of market channels and socioeconomic conditions on the production decisions of farmers during two key cropping seasons. We base our analysis on primary data from 200 marginal, small and medium farmers, primarily focusing on the key seasonal crops, namely paddy and black gram.

We studied the downstream supply chains of paddy and black gram crops in the district of Villupuram, situated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Using a Bi-Probit model, we analyzed the production decisions of marginal, small and medium farmers engaged in paddy and black gram cultivation. Various factors are considered, including farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics, gender, market channels accessed and the coping strategies employed.

After the easing of lockdown measures in June 2020, our research revealed substantial disruptions in agricultural production during the critical Kharif and Rabi seasons. Most farmers refrained from returning to their fields during the Kharif season; those who did produced millet as the main crop. Factors such as choice of market channels in previous seasons, economic status, access to all-weather roads, labor availability, gender and coping strategies played an important role in the return to production in the subsequent Kharif and Rabi seasons.

Our data revealed several interesting threads related to price volatility, irrigation and access to markets and their impact on food security. The role of intermediaries and market channels in providing liquidity emerges as an important aspect of farmers' choice of markets. The pandemic impacted all these factors, but a detailed analysis was beyond the scope of this study.

We also find that resilience to economic shocks varies not only by economic status but also by gender and social groups. Farmers with female members are more likely to be resilient, and marginal and small farmers primarily belong to social groups that are economically less developed.

This study contributes to the literature on factors influencing farmer choice and decision-making and provides nuances to discussions by analyzing crop-specific supply chains, highlighting the critical role of socioeconomic factors. It also highlights the role of demographics and infrastructural factors like access to all-weather roads and access to markets that influence farmers’ production decisions.

The purpose of this study is to explore the principal research query and whether strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aims at crafting future readiness.

With a focus on entrepreneurial firms working in the alternative energy segment in the Indian context, the intent is to examine the deployment of strategic foresight by incumbent firms and their entrepreneurial journey. The authors have adopted the approach of Eisenhardt for this research. The area of interest for the authors entailing strategic foresight by entrepreneurial firms in energy transition aligns with defining features reflecting the aim of Eisenhardt method for this exploratory research coupled with constructivism.

While the future scenarios in the energy sector have to be necessarily multiple, their alignment with different geographic, economic, demographic and political outlooks shall be defined by the pathways niched through the deployment of strategic foresight for arriving at those scenarios.

Strategic foresight deployed by entrepreneurial firms has the potential to create future readiness through self-reliant sustainable economic value chains for local populace, thus propagating holistic development in remote regions.

This paper attempts to knit together the domains of strategic foresight, entrepreneurial firms and energy transition through case research and present the future thinking deployed for navigation in uncharted pathways by capturing the foresight component of these incumbent firms chosen through careful case selection. The narrative has been strengthened by the varied interviews across participants and the observations made by the authors during the research work.