Pepsico India to raise area under contract farming for potatoes

Pepsico is planning to increase its sourcing of raw materials in India from contract farming and venture into new states regarding this.

The company's foods business unit, Frito-Lay, procures 50 per cent of potatoes, required for making chips and strips, from contract farming in eight states across the country.

"We have 12,000-15,000 acres under contract farming producing around 60,000 tonnes of potatoes and our plan is to increase the acreage and also venture into other states under the system,"Pepsico India Holdings Executive Vice President (Agro) Nishchint Bhatia said.

He said the company is planning for a pan-India presence under the contact farming model.

He also said the company is on track to developing two-three more varieties of potatoes