PepsiCo India, Cropin Unveil Satellite-Aided Platform to Optimize Potato Yields for Small Farmers

PepsiCo India and Cropin Technologies join forces, launching a revolutionary crop intelligence platform that enhances potato yield management. The initiative, targeting small-scale Indian farmers, deploys satellite imagery and remote sensing to optimize resource use and mitigate crop diseases.

The new platform combines satellite imagery and remote sensing data to offer a simple solution for monitoring the optimum use of resources such as water and fertilizers and evaluating pesticide use.

The pilot was launched at demo farms in Gujarat involving 51 farmers and in Madhya Pradesh with 11 farmers. Among the crop diseases that it tackles are blight disease, which can cause up to 80 percent potato crop damage, and ground frost, which is common in North India.

The platform, developed by Pepsico and Cropin, allows farmers to avail themselves of up to 10-day advance forecasts to monitor the health of the crops. PepsiCo works directly and indirectly with nearly 27,000 farmers in 14 states of India, and all of the potatoes used in producing its "Lay's" brand come from domestic producers.

Farmers participating in the pilot stage receive the appropriate training and support from the field agronomists who are helping them use the insights and the dashboard. The concept is currently being tested on 62 farms, 51 in Gujarat and 11 in Madhya Pradesh.

With the digitalization of agricultural activities, which were converted to SAP systems under the Smart Agro Program, PepsiCo in India began investigating agricultural technologies in 2018. The primary objective of the program was to increase value by boosting productivity and water safety using accessible technologies.

According to Anukool Joshi, Director of Agro at PepsiCo India, the rollout aims to empower PepsiCo farmers to maximize crop quality and yield. Cropin CEO Krishna Kumar noted that their solution reduces business risk while boosting efficiency by providing crop health indicators.

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