PepsiCo India will sharpen its focus on contract farming with an aim of doubling its procurement of potatoes locally from the current level of 2.40 lakh tonnes (lt) in the next five years.

“Currently we are working with 24,000 farmers in seven States, including Punjab, West Bengal and Karnataka. Last year, we procured 2.40 lt of potatoes locally, double of what we had five years ago. Our investments in contract farming will continue to grow,” Manu Anand, Chairman of PepsiCo India, told media persons on the sidelines of a CSR event at Sangareddy.

The company provides the entire package to farmers, starting from farm inputs to arranging for loans and crop insurance and assured buy back.

Anand said the company was also bringing in new technology to reduce consumption of water for production of its beverages, including the flagship brand Pepsi.

Water consumption

Eight years ago, the firm consumed seven litres of water to produce one litre of beverages, but today it has bought down the consumption level to an average of 2.2 litres.

“In some of our more efficient plants, we consume barely 1.6 litres of water for one litre of beverage. We intend to bring it down further,” Vivek Bharati, Executive Director, said.

He said this had been achieved through implementation of various water management and re-cycling schemes at its plant sites.

It has 17 plants of its own and another 11 franchise-owned.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in