The Hindu Business Line : PepsiCo set to start citrus cultivation in Punjab

Juicy deal
50,000 acres to be brought under cultivation.
70 per cent of the varieties will be for table use.
Company to offer three types of contracts to growers.

Jallowal (Punjab) , June 19

PepsiCo India is ready to start its citrus fruit cultivation project in Punjab under its ongoing contract farming system, wherein it already cultivates chillies, potatoes, and basmati.

The project, in collaboration with the State Government, is all set to start by August 2006 when the `bud wood' would be allocated to the farmers for cultivation.

Capacity

Mr Abhiram Seth, Executive Director (Exports and External Affairs), PepsiCo India, said: "The project will start off with 50,000 acres under citrus cultivation and hopes to go up to one million acres by 2015 as per the Chief Minister's expectation. This would roughly translate to around 116 million plants per cycle."

PepsiCo's R&D centre at Jallowal currently has the capacity to grow around 1,00,000 to four million plants.

The project was started in 2002 when about 12 varieties of rootstalks were imported from the US along with 32 varieties of `mother plants', whose seeds were initially used for grafting on the rootstalks.

Variety of fruit

The process of bud wood preparation that is being used at the R&D centre is grafting of different varieties of seed on different rootstalks depending on the variety of the citrus fruit desired.

This is an 18-month process; 12 months account for quarantine period. The R&D centre has three five-acre greenhouses in which the first step of grafting is carried out.

Cost effective

The plants remain in the greenhouse for 2-3 months, after which they are kept out in the sun in small black plastic pots for 15 months with regular doses of specifically created fertilisers to boost growth.

Once the 18-month period is over, the bud woods are handed over to the farmers for further cultivation. Dr S. Sankhyan, scientist at the R&D centre said, "The methods being used are not only cost-effective but also energy-conserving."

Among the citrus trees available to the farmers it is proposed that 70 per cent will be varieties for table use, while the rest 30 per cent would be varieties that can be processed - both for the domestic market.

So, the better quality fruits will be for table use, while the slightly lower quality ones would be processed for Pepsi's juice brand, Tropicana.

Schemes

The farmers are being offered three contract schemes. In the first scheme, the farmer leases out the land to Pepsi for 12 years, during which time the company takes care of all aspects of cultivation.

After 12 years, the fully cultivated land is given back to the farmer.

In the second scheme, the farmer leases out the land to the company for six years; from the seventh year onwards, both Pepsi and the farmer get 50 per cent each of the profits.

In the third scheme, the farmer enters into a contract with the company for 20 years, whereby Pepsi supplies technological knowhow and the seeds, while the farmer is the cultivator.

The quantity, citrus variety to be produced, and the amount to be paid to the farmer, are pre-determined by Pepsi.