Rabobank, EID Parry and WWF India have signed an agreement to collaborate on sustainable production of sugarcane and work towards reducing business risk in the face of high water and carbon footprint.
The initiative, a strategic alliance between the three institutions, aims to support businesses towards implementing sustainable practices.
Partners to the agreement say that the partnership would produce tools that would track and measure issues related to sugarcane production - water use and green house gas (GHG) emissions and advise on efficient management of water along the supply chain.
The three-year project is expected to be carried out across EID Parry’s sites in southern India, with Rabobank being the facilitator and WWF-India providing the knowledge input.
The project would undertake an assessment of water availability risk, water footprint sustainability and an estimation of the GHG footprint and carbon reduction potential in sugarcane cultivation practices. Recommendations for the improved production systems would be formulated following these assessments.
The recommendations would be tested through pilot projects before being scaled up.
The project has been proposed to be executed in EID Parry’s select facilities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Rabobank strategy
Surojit Shome, Chief Executive, Rabobank India, said that this project would be an integral part of Rabobank’s broader food and agri-business strategy of increasing food availability in an environmentally sustainable way. "We are certain that this project will enhance our client’s overall performance in a responsible and efficient manner.''
Sejal Worah, WWF India, said the partnership with EID Parry and Rabobank would help a develop decision-making tool which can be widely used by business and finance sector for sustainable water and carbon management.
V Ramesh, Managing Director, EID Parry, said that this partnership would enable EID Parry to address two main issues pertinent to cane cultivation in the sugar industry i.e. water and carbon footprint.