Application of Structural Equation Modeling to Scrutinize the Causes of Grape Losses in Production Chain

Grape is the key product of Qazvin Province and a vast amount of it is annually lost during supply chain due to various causes. This study, therefore, aimed at examining the effective and significant causes of grape losses in supply chain in Qazvin. First, to identify the main causes of the grape losses and to develop the research framework, data was gathered through some qualitative methods. Twenty-three grape growers, researchers, and experts were interviewed by research team as the key informants. Meanwhile, grounded theory techniques were employed for data analysis simultaneous with data collection processes to develop the final theory and model. In second part, the study's hypotheses and research model were formed based upon the developed theory. Then, to examine the research model, Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling and Important-Performance Matrix Analysis techniques were used. The population involved/affected in this part was grape growers from five districts of Qazvin Province. The sample consisted of 380 grape growers who were selected through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire was utilized for data collection and data was analyzed with the Smart-PLS 3.0. Main findings show that “management practices and resource and equipment” had significant effect on the grape losses. In accordance with Important Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA), “extension and advisory services and management practices” are of paramount prominence. Moreover, in indicators level, providing on-farm participatory training, intelligible educational programs in local media, and financial resources, had the utmost importance in mitigating grape losses.