Jain Farm Fresh Foods Ltd (JFFFL) , a wholly owned subsidiary of Jain Irrigation Systems, is on a capacity building drive to make mango farming sweeter for over 3 lakh farmers in Southern India by 2027.

JFFFL began the exercise by inviting around 600 mango farmers from across the state to its facility at Elayamuthur near Udumalpet on Wednesday.

Taking them around the farm, JFFFL sources explained the salient features of the Ultra High Density Plantation method in mango and tissue culture for banana and pomegranate. They demonstrated drip and sprinkler irrigation systems and also showed the farmers the mango nursery, particularly the UHDP mango farm, which is said to be the oldest in India.

Sunil Deshpande, Managing Director, JFFFL, said the company is focused on improving farmers’ economic empowerment through adoption of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and extension of Project Unnati.

“Project Unnati is a sustainable agriculture initiative, introduced initially in Andhra Pradesh in 2011. Over 22,000 farmers have been successfully trained in AP in the pilot phase of this project. We are now extending it to the farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This programme is in association with FMCG major Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages,” Deshpande said.

Speaking at length about the initiative, he said mango farmers in these two southern states will now be trained in advanced cultivation practices aimed at doubling their farm income, besides ensuring earliness in farm income.

“To ensure that the technology is available at the farmers’ doorstep, JFFFL has decided to ply custom-built mobile classrooms in buses. These buses will move and reach farmers even in remote areas, impart hands-on training in grafting, pruning and top working, sensitise them with videos and power point presentations on mango cultivation techniques,” he said.

International Finance Corporation, the financing arm of the World Bank Group, would facilitate the training services under the Unnati programme in all the three states, he added. Three mobile training buses have been planned (one for each state. Company sources said that training in the mobile class rooms would be imparted to around 30,000 farmers every year.

Multiple benefits “The UHDP technique enables planting of 600 trees an acre as against 40 to 70 trees/ acre under the conventional method and the canopy maintained in such a way as to get maximum light interception. The gestation period is also less. The orchards start commercial bearing from the 3rd or 4th year onwards against 7 to 9 years under traditional planting.”

“Utilising drip offers twin benefits — improving yield per acre and decreasing use of water simultaneously for every kilogram of mango produced. Special care for nutrition management and pest control is also undertaken in the project. UHDP is a viable solution in all areas where mango is grown traditionally,” Deshpande explained.

K Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultral University, flagged off the Unnati training buses at the Jain Agri-Industrial Park in Elayamuthur.

Umesh Malik, Vice President PAC, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, said the company is one of the largest buyers of Indian agricultural produce. “Our investments and interventions in sustainable agriculture will provide a boost to the local suppliers and the agriculture sector in India.”

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