New Delhi:
PepsiCo India today refuted BJP's Sushma Swaraj's allegation that PepsiCo did not keep its promise to buy potatoes and tomatoes from farmers in Punjab.
Here is PepsiCo's statement:PepsiCo India sources all its potato requirement from within the country. We are the largest procurer of potato in India and procured 240,000 MT of potato from Indian farmers in 2012 which is more than double of what we procured 5 years ago.
PepsiCo India has established a model of partnership with farmers and now works with over 24,000 happy farmers across nine states. Some of the key states include West Bengal, Punjab, Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar. We have also set up a state of the art potato seed facility in Punjab and all the seed that we provide to farmers across the country is grown by Punjab and Haryana farmers.
PepsiCo has over the years, not just given more opportunity to potato farmers but also worked in close partnership with the farming community with a vision of creating a cost-effective, localized agro-base in India by leveraging its access to world class agricultural practices. PepsiCo works with farmers throughout the crop cycle - providing quality seeds, technical expertise, facilitating loans from banks, harvesting expertise etc.