Global beverages and snacks major PepsiCo is looking to enhance potato procurement in India by around 20 per cent to 65 per cent through its tie-up with farmers in the next five years.
The company aims to strengthen regions where it is already working with farmers and also enter new geographies in the country.
PepsiCo, which works with around 24,000 farmers across nine States under the collaborative farming model, procures around 45 per cent of its current total annual requirement of 2.40 lakh tonnes of potato by working with farmers and the rest 55 per cent from the open market.
“We expect the share of potato procurement through collaborative farming to go up to around 65 per cent from the current 45 per cent in the next five years,” PepsiCo India Senior Director — Operations (Foods) Rajiv Wakhle told PTI here.
He added that the company is looking to strengthen the existing regions where it is working with farmers and is also eyeing entering new geographies in the next few years.
PepsiCo India currently works with farmers across various States including Punjab, Maharashtra and West Bengal, to procure agri-products from them. It utilises potatoes for various brands under food businesses such as Lay’s and Uncle Chips.
Under its collaborative farming programme, the company provides technical and financial support to farmers, which includes tie-ups with banks and insurance firms.
The firm assures buy back of the farm produce at pre-agreed prices from cultivators, thus insulating them from market price fluctuations besides ensuring stable income.
On the company’s collaborative farming in Maharashtra, Wakhle said around 3,500 farmers work with the company across Pune, Satara and Sangli, covering over 6,500 acres of land.
“In Satara, where erratic rainfall is a major challenge, we have been able to bring 1,600 acres of farm land under drip irrigation for cultivation of potato. This is an eight-fold increase as compared to 200 acres under drip irrigation in 2009,” PepsiCo India Vice-President—Agro Jaideep Bhatia said.
These 1,600 acres constitute more than 50 per cent of the total area under drip irrigation supported by the company in the country, he added.
Commenting on the benefits of drip irrigation, Bhatia said the methodology has helped the company save more than 1.5 billion litres of water in India since 2009.
“Over 400 acres of land in Satara, which was earlier not under cultivation due to a variety of reasons including water scarcity and rocky terrain, is now being used for potato collaborative farming,” Wakhle said.
The company works with farmers throughout the crop lifecycle and this includes the supply of planting material, offering plant protection programmes and assistance in securing soft loans under the collaborative farming model, he added.