Bengaluru-based Utkal Tubers India Pvt Ltd, a potato seed producer, proposes to raise additional capital of $5 million over the next 12 months to fund its expansion plans.

The company plans to ramp up its annual production of high-yielding, disease-resistant seed potatoes to 50,000 tonnes over the next three years across Gujarat, Assam, Punjab, UP, Haryana and Karnataka, the company said in a statement.

In 2019, the Bengaluru-based company produced 4,800 tonnes of high-yielding disease-resistant potato seeds across 450 acres of farmland. Utkal plans to increase the production by investing in research and development, introducing new high-quality proprietary varieties of seeds and utilising technology advancements such as cocopeat and aeroponics technologies for seed multiplication.

“This is an important advancement towards improving agricultural yield in India. Utkal’s best farming practices can now be implemented to grow potato seeds in areas where seed production is challenging,” said Abhijeet Kudva, Director, Utkal Tubers,.

Yields in India are only half the global average with over a million farmers engaged in potato farming. Utkal has secured exclusive rights from IPM Potato Group Limited (IPM), a leading European potato company, for the import of high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of potatoes which are suitable for harsher climates, such as in India.

CapAleph Indian Millennium SME Fund, Zephyr Peacock India Fund and IPM are the existing investors in Utkal Tubers.

Utkal said it has invested in research to develop and cultivate high-yield disease-resistant seed potatoes in regions where they were not previously cultivated.

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