CHENNAI: Jaideep Bhatia, Director of Agro PEPSICO India, sustainability partner of The New Indian Express Water Conclave, spoke about the company’s collaborative farming and agricultural sustainability initiative.
He explained how the MNC has been working with farmers in the country since 1989. Highlighting that India was the second largest potato producer in the world, he however, said it lacked the processed potato variety used to make Lays and Uncle Chips, the company’s flagship snack brands.
“Pepsico works with 24,000 farmers in 11 states,” he said.
According to him the company was adopting methods to save water. “We have been water positive since 2009,” he said adding “20% of the potatoes we produce are coming from drip irrigation fields. Pepsico also provides direct seeding machines for rice cultivation.”