Diversity of production planning adaptations of farmers in vegetable long supply chains

Long supply chains vegetable growers coordinate production planning with middlemen to optimize distribution of their perishable products. Doing so, farmers have to consider both their own and middlemen’s constraints and objectives. As perturbations become more frequent and intense, farmers have to adapt. Diversity of vegetable growers’ adaptations has not been analyzed according to farm and market characteristics and linked with decision-making. We aim to i) identify differences in planning decision-making according to farm and market characteristics, and ii) explain diversity of adaptations by these differences in decision-making. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 farmers and six middlemen involved in fresh vegetable long supply chains on the Roussillon plain, France. Interview content was analyzed and compared according to farm and market characteristics. We show that production planning corresponded to six decision variables: scheduling for outlets, species, volume, and harvest period; and real-time management of outlets and harvest. These variables were influenced by nine constraints and objectives associated with farmers (e.g., greenhouse amortization) or middlemen (e.g., competition from other regions). They applied differently according to six characteristics of farms (e.g., greenhouse area) and market (e.g., conventional). Interviewed farmers perceived six perturbations, most often mentioned being organic sector crisis, changes in seasonal patterns, and drought. They faced these perturbations by implementing 11 adaptations (e.g., change planting date). We shed light on the diversity of planning adaptations among farmers and the consistency of those adaptations with farmers’ decision-making. We illustrate the importance of coordinated planning as both a lever and an obstacle for vegetable growers’ adaptation.