Assam: PepsiCo starts procuring potatoes from state’s farmers

 50 MT despatched from Dibrugarh district

 Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: In a major development that portends good days ahead for farmers in the state, Assam has started supplying potatoes to major international consumer food products company PepsiCo.

As a beginning, a quantity of 50 metric tonnes (MT) of potato was shipped from Dibrugarh in the past few days to a manufacturing plant of PepsiCo located outside the state. PepsiCo plans to procure 50,000 MT of potato annually from farmers in the state for its upcoming plant at Nalbari, which is due to be commissioned in 2025. In the meantime, PepsiCo has already started training the state’s farmers to produce high-quality potatoes by providing technical know-how and high-quality seeds.

In September 2023, PepsiCo started work on its upcoming plant at Nalbari at an estimated cost of Rs 778 crore.

Regarding the shipment of potatoes sent from Dibrugarh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The first dispatch has begun from Dibrugarh. Our farmers will be supplying 50,000 metric tonnes of potatoes to the company’s factories.”

Industry department sources said that two trucks carrying 25 tonnes each of potatoes have started their journey to PepsiCo’s plant from Tingkhong, and more will make their way in the coming days. People from PepsiCo came and trained our farmers on harvesting the best-quality potatoes from their fields. The potatoes from Assam will be used to manufacture PepsiCo’s ‘Lays’ brand of potato chips, so they want to use the best quality potatoes. The seeds provided by PepsiCo have produced potatoes up to a size of 700 gm each.

PepsiCo sources said, “The plant at Nalbari will help improve the livelihood of 5,000 farmers in the state. This plant will also generate demand for cold storage units with a capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes over the next few years. Our first manufacturing plant in Assam is a testament to our long-term vision and unwavering support for the economic growth of the country by creating an equitable and sustainable ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Agriculture Department sources said, “The productivity of most crops in the state is very low compared to the average productivity in the country due to erratic rainfall, floods, erosion, and sand deposition in agriculture fields. Therefore, we are taking several steps to meet these challenges and increase the productivity of crops. The government is also planning to build Majuli Island as a hub of organic products with the ‘O Majuli’ trademark.”

At present, the contribution of the agri-allied sector to the state GDP is 21%. With companies like PepsiCo planning to source agricultural produce from the state, the GDP is bound to increase.

Also Read: PepsiCo to Invest Rs 778 Crore in New Assam Plant, Aims to Boost Local Economy

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