Pepsico to procure 80,000 tonnes of potato from Bengal
January 19th, 2012 - 10:55 pm ICT by IANSPanpara (West Bengal), Jan 19 (IANS) PepsiCo India, which has set a target to procure 60,000 tonnes of potato from West Bengal in the current fiscal, plans to raise the figure to 80,000 tonnes. The hike could bring relief to the state government which is thinking of ways to sell the tuber in case of a bumper crop.
The company’s vice president (agronomy) Jaideep Bhatia told media persons here that it now bought potatoes from nearly 10,000 farmers in six districts of the state.
“The total area under cultivation for growing the ‘Atlanta’ variety of potato was about 5,500 acres in 2011. This is expected to increase to 7,000 acres in 2012,” Bhatia said.
The multinational purchased potatoes at Rs.6 a kilo from farmers who have joined in the pre-agreed scheme with it.
“The maximum price we have offered this year is Rs.6.30 per kg,” Bhatia said, adding the state was the largest supplier of potato to the company.
“One-third of the company’s requirement in India comes from West Bengal,” he said.
The company now procures nearly two lakh tonnes of potatoes from farmers in nine Indian states.
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Tags: agronomy, bhatia, bumper crop, farmers, fiscal plans, India, indian states, jaideep, jan 19, kilo, lakh tonnes, maximum price, media persons, pepsico, potatoes, rs 6, state government, target, vice president, west bengal