PepsiCo plans to invest $5 million for expanding its agricultural programmes in India

PepsiCo is planning to invest $5 million by 2020 to expand its agricultural programmes in India. Currently, the food and beverages company is working with 24,000 farmers in the country for growing potato, rice, corn and citrus for its products like Lays, Uncle Chipps, Kurkure snacks and Tropicana juice.

Christine Daugherty, global vice president of sustainable agriculture at PepsiCo, said, "The company has plans to double the collaborative farming network in the next five years, including expansion to new geographies." 

“PepsiCo is also keen to bring digital technology to the farms. We are connecting farmers to mobile apps which gives information from pest management to weather information,” she added.

PepsiCo, through the sustainable farming programme, is providing education on field agronomy, fertilisers, irrigation, plant protection techniques and new technologies.

Daugherty further said, "We want to make a global impact which is locally relevant through our sustainable farming programme. We know we can’t just come in with complete Western agricultural practices as they may not work in India. So, our programme goes in and does risk analysis and assessment of environmental, social and economic factors. Post that risk assessment, we decide on how to engage with the farmers so they can grow better quality products with fewer input costs which are resilient to environmental and economic shocks."