Company Special: PepsiCo shares science of growing good potatoes

The Ministry of Agriculture and PepsiCo Foods (China) Co Ltd kicked off a three-day training course on sustainable potato farming and farm management on June 24 in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.

Some 30 agro-technicians and management professionals from more than 10 provinces and autonomous regions including Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and Gansu received training from PepsiCo experts.

PepsiCo shared global best practices in modern farm management and answered questions on practical problems in potato farming to help raise the quality and efficiency of China's potato cultivation.

In 2011, PepsiCo and the MOA signed an agreement pledging to promote advanced production and management techniques to modernize farms in China.

The first training course they organized was in Inner Mongolia last year. To build on that, this year's training focused on scientific potato cultivation along with water and energy conservation, said PepsiCo.

The world's largest potato chip producer, PepsiCo has rich experience in potato farming around the globe.

By deploying the best practices it helped develop, PepsiCo has been able to achieve yields on its demonstration farms much higher than the country's average. The practice proves that scientific methods not only increase yields, but also benefit the environment, said the company.

PepsiCo said it shares its technologies to make a positive contribution to increase farmer incomes and protect the environment.

Ye Quanbao, director of the international department at MOA said "the development of agricultural technologies and capacity building in agricultural technicians are among the top priorities of our ministry".

"By leveraging our pragmatic cooperation with PepsiCo, we hope to introduce its advanced technologies, experience and high-quality potatoes to China to boost the domestic industry and help many farmers increase both production and income."

Bob Shi, operating vice-president of PepsiCo Greater China Region, said the company has "long-standing commitments to the 'triple wins' of its sustainable agriculture - good income for local farmers, helping the environment and doing good business".

"Over the past decade, more than 10,000 farmers have benefited from their partnership with PepsiCo. We hope that by cooperating with MOA, we can jointly contribute to the development of sustainable potato farming in China."

As a global leader in the food and beverage business, PepsiCo not only has a full range of global sustainable agricultural policies, it has also been actively giving back to the local communities.

In 2007, the company started the employee-driven PepsiCo Library project to support rural village schools near its demonstration farms, providing books, desks, library equipment and funds.

By the end of 2013, it had donated more than 2.1 million yuan ($336,000) and set up 10"PepsiCo Libraries" in seven provinces in China that benefit some 4,500 students.

At the end of the recent training session, participants visited the PepsiCo Library in a school in the Ar Horqin Banner and attended a PepsiCo Scholarship award ceremony.

Since the establishment of the PepsiCo Library in the school in 2008, the company and its employees have donated books and multimedia teaching facilities for seven consecutive years.

More than 200 students in the school have benefited from the PepsiCo Scholarship program. Through the Water Cellar for Mothers program by the China Women's Development Foundation, PepsiCo Greater China Region donated a water purifying facility to the school valued at 100,000 yuan last year.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn