Pepsi enters into farming

This is about a yr old but I found it in passing and thought that it would be something for you all to look at.
Plus it goes along with what I said on another thread about contract farming being the future.Keep notice of several key words and sentences. Also they talk about yields but not what the farmers will make off them yields.
Just keeping you all up to date on the farming scene
Friday Jun 30 2000
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Pepsi to start tomato farming in K’taka
Arun Sundaram
BANGALORE
PEPSI Foods Ltd is planning to commence contract tomato farming at Nelamangala (about 40 km from Bangalore). Off-season testing of about 18 hybrid seeding material is already under way.

Speaking to ET, a senior official of PFL said the seeding material would be supplied to the contract farmers by September or October to facilitate rabi cultivation. The produce is expected to be harvested from next January onwards.

As per the plan, the official continued, the entire output would be lifted by PFL for producing tomato puree. Initially the project would be restricted to around 300 acres (producing around 10,000 tonnes).

``If the project goes as scheduled more contract farming would be likely 24 months down the line. The company eventually plans to make available high quality seeding material right at the farmer’s doorstep. PFL’s procurement price would also be at a premium compared to the ruling market price,’’ the official said.

PFL has also been harvesting fruits like mangoes, guava, banana, grapes and papaya (mainly for processing) on a five acre land near Nelamangala.

Besides the fruit and tomato cultivation programmes, PFL is also looking at the possibility of encouraging contract farming of groundnut in Karnataka.

The programme is likely to be started in Kolar district. The area in and around Kolar has the ideal soil condition for groundnut cultivation in the state, the official added.

PFL also plans to expand the area under groundnut farming in Punjab.

Under its groundnut contract farming programme, farmers in Punjab have been able to obtain average yields of about 1.5 tonnes per acre compared to the national average of about 0.4 tonnes per acre.