Pepsico to procure potatoes for potato chips from Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh

PepsiCo India is looking to enhance potato procurement through its tie-up with farmers in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. 

The company will buy the potatoes produced in Kuppam, hometown of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, in months to come. 

The firm has plans to manufacture chips with the potatoes produced in Kuppam in Chittoor district and Araku in Visakhapatnam district. About 15 farmers were selected for training at Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) located at Shimla. 

The company would impart on-field training to the farmers at its demo plots in Kuppam and Araku. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 farmers holding agricultural lands of half acre and above in Kuppam. 

Speaking to The Hindu , AP Food Processing Society Chief Executive Officer Y.S. Prasad said that the PepsiCo has plans to cultivate the potato variety of its choice it the demo fields spread over 50 acres in Kuppam. The company works with farmers throughout the crop life cycle and this includes the supply of planting material, offering plant protection programmes etc. under the collaborative farming model, he said. 

PepsiCo would supply the seed potatoes to the farmers by end of July and the plantation would be completed by August. At present, the production is 17 to 18 metric tons (MT) per hectare. The yield has to be increased to 25 MT per hectare. 

It was pointed out to PotatoPro that growing potatoes under the climatological conditions in Chitoor and Visakhapatnam would also reduce Pepsico's dependence on the use of stored potatoes.