Rice Supply Chain in China Paper Example

Introduction

Rice production in China is one of the crucial inputs of the economy and accounts for about half of its grain food products. Subsequently, the nation accounts for approximately 30% of the total rice production in the world. Since rice is one of the most consumed products, the availability of rice promptly is essential to the people or consumers. As such, the incorporation of supply chain management facilitates the effectiveness in the supply of products from the primary producers to the end consumers. The rice production and distribution to the end consumers in China has to follow a specific supply chain. Rice suffices to be a bioresource; and therefore there are essential factors to consider along the supply chain to ensure environmental sustainability (Godfray et al. 2010, 814). This paper discusses the environmental impacts in the supply chain of rice, the management strategies, and offers recommendations for the improved environmental management.

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Environmental Impacts

As for the densely populated countries such as China, food supply, food safety, and environmental sustainabilityare the keyissues. The modernization and the rapid industrialization taking place in China has had significant effects on food supply, safety, and environment. Firstly, the biochemical products released during the rearing and the processing of rice in China affects the environment to a greater extent. In most cases, the farmers or the producers use pesticides among other chemical products to control the pesticides as well as enhance the growth of rice. As a result, the chemicals find their way into the water which causes water contamination. In the industries, the waste products released during the production process may be mismanaged and may eventually contaminate the water sources which is an environmental hazard (Lam, Remais, Fung, Xu, and Sun, 2013, 1). As such, the chemical products released as waste products from theindustries as well as the chemicals that are sprayed on the rice plantations adversely affect the environment.

Subsequently, the rapid industrialization leads to the creation of industries for processing the rice once it is harvested. As a result of the production processes in the industries, some waste products get into the air which then causes air pollution. Also, during the harvesting process, some machinesuse fuel products. The harvesting machines end up releasing waste products into the air which consequently affects the ozone layer and leads to an increase in the rate of global warming (Clare et al., 2015, 1279). Therefore, the mechanization era has led to a rise in the use of machines for production or manufacturing and harvesting activities which leads to the release of chemicals into the air which is detrimental to the environment.

The deficiency of adequate freshwater for the irrigation of the rice plantations adversely affects the soil and the fertility of the land (Lu et al., 2015, 6). In China, some parts of the land lack a sufficient supply of freshwater which forces farmers to concentrate on the limited landwith water supply for the farming activities. As a result, the land losses micronutrients eventually due to the extensive farming which also impedes the production of agricultural products(Lu et al. Sci. Adv., 2015, 1). Rice suffices to be the staple food for China; and therefore, the limited amount of land is exploited to meet the demand of the high population. The lack of freshwater supplies in particularly the northern China contributes to the extensive farming practices in other parts of the nation that have water supply which eventually leads to over-exploitation of the land making it lose essential micronutrients.

Additionally, the increasing number of organizations that deal in the production of rice in China leads to the long-term damage of ecosystems. For instance, the need to meet the market demand may lead to the deforestation for farming and setting up industries to sustain the rice production. Eventually, the production processes involved in the supply chain will significantly affect the natural state of the environment(Bellarby et al., 2017, 2-3). Unlike the traditional activities that involved non-mechanical production processes and did not cause pollution of the environment or damage the ecosystem, the current mechanization and the rapid industrialization contributes to high utilization of machines which use fuel products and may release hazard or toxic waste production. The waste products then cause environmental pollution.

Environmental Impacts Management

Currently, there are various interventions that the rice supply chain stakeholders implement to manage the environmental impacts along the rice supply chain. First, to limit the over-exploitation of the land with freshwater supplies, there are conservation and engineering projects set up in the regions with scarce water supply. In this case, the stakeholders in the rice supply chain try as much as possible to ensure that every land is useful for the production practices. Apart from such interventions increasing the number of rice productions, it is crucial to notethe strategy also reduces the over-exploitation of land in some parts of the nation (Rueda, Garrett, and Lambin, 2017, 2481). The intervention suffices to be a long-term environmental management strategy that leverages the demand and supply without adversely affecting the fertility of most parts of the land.

As for the toxic waste from the firms and the industries, there are guidelines set aside that call for waste treatment before it is released into the water sources. Releasing chemical into water not only harms human beings that consume the water but also hinders the sustainability of life within the water. That is, the contaminated water leads to the death of fish among other animals that live in the water. However, industries and the farmers are implementing guidelines and strategies that ensure waste products are appropriately treated before they are released into the environment (Zhao, Ma, Zhu, Tang, and McGrath, 2014, 2-3). The treatment processes ensure that final waste released is not harmful to the environment. In the era of industrialization, the setting up of waste treatment and management plant suffices to be one of the effective strategies that reduce water pollution.

Further, the agricultural sector sets the guidelines for the proper use of chemicals for the farmers in the rice sector. The management strategy prevents any possible chemical contamination that may be caused by the use of inappropriate or harmful chemical products. Currently, every chemical product used during the farming of the rice has to be environmental-friendly to ensure it is not hazardous or does not cause damage to the eco-system. Studies show that the use of harmful chemical products may cause toxins in the rice as well as cause harmful microorganisms into the soil (Green, Zelbst, Meacham, and Bhadauria, 2012, 291-292). Therefore, the intervention to evaluate every chemical product released into the market reduces instances of food poisoning together with the release of hazardous chemical products.

Furthermore, since the rice has become a commercial food product and its production is primarily for sale, some regulations have been set aside to prevent deforestation. That is, the over-exploitation of the land is prohibited to assure environmental sustainability. Besides the use of chemical products in the production stage of the supply chain, the use of illegal preservatives and chemicals during the transportation and storage stage is hazardous to the environment. The use of the chemicals and the preservatives contribute to the release of hazardous chemicalsubstances which adversely affect the environment. Therefore, the safety regulatory bodies ensure that they evaluate the effect of the preservatives as an intervention to prevent possible contamination of water (Bellarby et al., 2017, 2-3). As such, it is essential for the stakeholders involved in the supply chain to adhere to the safety regulations to reduce the instances of environmental pollution.

Recommendations

The various environmental management strategies accrue many benefits in the management of impacts on the environment. However, certain improvements canimprove the supply chain's ecological sustainability. First, the inter-organizational collaborations are essential to facilitate knowledge sharing and the implementation of systems that will enhance environmental sustainability. Before the implementation of the strategies that will improve the management of environmental impacts that occur along the rice supply chain in China, the collaboration between the technological sector, and the agricultural sector is crucial. The collaboration leads to the establishment of researches that provide an understanding of pollution mitigation strategies to reduce instances of global warming and reduce the levels to the required international standards (Mol, 2014, 49-51). Currently, international regulatory bodies need nations to control the rate of global warming and reduce the rates to a certain degree; as such, the technological sector ensures that it collaborates with the stakeholders in the agricultural industry to identify ways to reduce environmental pollution effectively.

Furthermore, the establishment of collaboration between transportation providers and carriers is crucial for environmental sustainability. In this case, the farmers or the rice manufactures can abandon their means of transporting the rice using vehicles that use fuel and emit harmful gases into the air, and contract transporters who use electric trains and other transport-efficient vehicles (Ke, Zhang, He, Wu, and Hao, 2017, 453). Subsequently, some shippers use the water to transport large quantities of rice products. In this case, the hiring of transportation agencies assures that the various organizationsdo not have to use their fuel-consuming vehicles which emit hazardous gases to transport small quantities of rice products; however, they contract the agencies and reduce environmental pollution (Wang and Hao, 2012, 2-4). The agencies ensure that the multiple farmers can use a conventional means of transport that profoundly reduces the instances of pollution.

Also, hiring an environmentalist ensures that the suppliers can integrate the appropriate practices in the supply chain that assure environmental sustainability. First, the environmentalist ensures that he or she cautions or educates the people involved in the production and industrial processing sections. That is, the people within the industries need to frequently change the machines used for production to ensure that they are efficient to have sustained the required sustainability standards. For instance, a company may have a waste management system; however, it may become outdated to the extent that it does not treat the chemical wastes appropriately (Smith et al., 2013, 23-25). As such, and environmentalist will check the efficiency of such systems and recommend the appropriate changes needed. Additionally,the environmentalist can work alongside the supply chain whereby he or she can visit farmers and sanitize them regarding the strategies that reduce the environmental sustainability.

Lastly, the establishment of footprint measurement measures improves the environmental sustainability. In this case, the stakeholders utilize the technology that will evaluate the amount of carbon produced at rice greenhouses and in processing and manufacturing industries (Wang and Yue, 2017, 223-224). Also, there may be interventions that reduce the emission of poisonous or hazardous gas into the atmosphere; it is crucial to measure the carbon footprint to gather information regarding the current waste...