Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCBPL) and Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd, launched the second phase of Unnati, their sustainable agriculture project focussed on mango cultivation in the three southern states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The companies announced a ten-year-plan at an outlay of Rs 50 crore.
After Phase-I succeeded, HCCBPL and Jain Irrigation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the second phase at Mumbai’s ITC Grand Central. The former was represented by T Krishnakumar, its chief executive officer, and the latter was represented by Atul Jain, its joint managing director.
Krishnakumar said, “Scaling up the initiative, in association with Jain Irrigation and farmers, would result in the creation of an ecosystem that would deliver higher growth and income for farmers and help us streamline the supply chain and enhance the productivity of our Indian brands, Maaza and Minute Maid Mango.”
“The scale of this project enables us to confidently continue to deliver the refreshing beverages to consumers at affordable price points. Our long-standing partner, Jain Irrigation, understands that the partnership between business, civil society and government is the key to building a more sustainable future,” he added.
Jain said, “India is the largest producer of mango pulp in the world, with one of the lowest mango yields. Ultra high-density plantation (UHDP), a proven technology offers, a global mango cultivation technology, combined with other sustainable agricultural techniques which have the potential to produce 200 per cent more than the current yield than the traditional method here in India.”
“With the partnership with HCCBPL, we are looking at the large-scale adoption of UHDP in the country. Over the next ten years, we aim to scale up the project to cover end-to-end fruit supply chain and further optimise delivery,” he added.
Jain informed that in the second phase of the project, the partners would identify 25,000 farmers, holding an area of 50,000 acre, and support them in adopting the UHDP technology. The selected farmers would be provided assistance for using this technology during the duration of the project.
Unnati’s second phase would be built around building deeper relationships and engagements with farmers. The Jain Irrigation director stated that the objective was to harness the higher productivity potential of mango farms to its business, adding that Jain Irrigation would offer the farmers implementing UHDP an option of buying back the fruit cultivated. This scaling-up initiative is expected to yield approximately 3,00,000 metric tonne fruit by the year 2022-23.
The first phase of Unnati trained farmers on the use of the UHDP technology and encouraged them to adapt to the new technology.
As per reports, two-thirds of the Rs 5,000-crore per annum Indian juice drink market comprises mango drinks alone. Juice drinks offer a tremendous business opportunity, if managed on a long-term, sustainable basis.
However it was noted that the area under mango cultivation was not growing at the same rate. As an age-old mango cultivation practice, farmers showed their concern for the mangoes only during the harvest season.
The mango tree is also known as the generation crop, because it is planted by father and the yield is enjoyed only by next generation. It is often neglected crop for a whole year, deprived of pesticides and fertiliser and depends only on rain. Therefore, a shortage of mangoes has been predicted. As a result, the prices of the fruit and related products like juices and pulp would only rise.
Under UHDP, the plants would be planted at a three-metre range instead of the traditional ten-metre distance, resulting in more trees and mangoes on the same area of land. And with the proper use of fertiliser and water, the crop, which usually takes 7-8 years to grow, can be grown in approximately 3.5 years.
Krishnakumar said, “We started the project with the vision of long-term fruit supply capability by accelerating end-to-end agriculture production and supply. The project, focussed on the mango variant totapuri, would train farmers at their doorsteps, carry out disease-free, hygiene-based cultivation and helping them get funds from the government and private agencies. We hope that by 2022, Coca-Cola’s requirement for its mango drink would be fetched by this project. ”
When asked about any project for the state of Maharashtra and the king of mangoes, Alphonso, as prospect in Phase-III of the project (if any), Dr Dilip N Kulkarni, president, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd, who was also a spokesperson at the event, said, “Currently totapuri is the mango variant that is mainly used for processing purposes, whereas Alphonso is a table fruit, mostly produced for export purpose. Alphonso, being a high-end variant, is not cost-efficient for the processing industry. However, we would like to explore Maharashtra and Gujarat for the next project. “
He commented on the European Union’s (EU) ban on mangoes, stating that there was no impact on totapuri mangoes, as that variant was not exported and mainly used for processing purpose only. “The only way out for the exporters of mangoes to European countries is the compliance to the certification on global good agricultural practices (GAP) as stated by the European government,” he added.
The agricultural practices under Project Unnati offered the basis to improve mango productivity and hence, enhanced the supply of mango pulp for the industry. Continuous interaction with farmers on GAP with support on farm supplements and subsidy would motivate farmers to be engaged with the project over a long duration. Additionally, Project Unnati would also develop farmer loyalty programmes, which would continue to encourage farmers’ support to this programme.
Through the project, private entities have received support from the government of Andhra Pradesh under the state horticulture mission, and would soon approaching the national government for the same in future.
When quizzed about the project and process being patented, Kulkarni stated that he did not believe that any agricultural practice could be patented, and so the process was open to all. He hoped every farmer would follow it.
In Phase-I of Project Unnati (which was launched in 2011 with an investment of $2 million), partners worked towards highlighting the need of UHDP technology and in assisting early adoption of the practice. The project, a unique partnership with farmers, has established 200 demo farms.
Through interventions such as the Coca-Cola University on Wheels Bus and active outreach, nearly 4,000 farmers have been covered to date. UHDP Technology, embedded with drip irrigation, on-site training and farm supplement support have been successfully implemented by several farmers, which has led to the first harvest of mangoes this year.
