PepsiCo India, through its brand “Lay’s”, announced a crop & plot-level predictive intelligence model to help farmers maximize potato yields coupled with quality via functional dashboards on user-friendly mobile apps. Launched in collaboration with Cropin, a leading global agri-tech company known for creating the first industry cloud for agriculture, this initiative is a part of PepsiCo’s ‘Precision Agriculture’ model for India and is being implemented as a pilot project in demo farms at Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Most farmers in India own less than one hectare of farmland and face constant challenges due to lack of means to evaluate the optimum consumption of agri-inputs like water, fertilizers, and pesticides as well as actionable weather data. For example, potato yield losses caused through the blight crop disease can go up to 80% if not forecasted early. Significant yield loss caused due to ground frost is another serious issue for potato farmers especially in the northern parts of the country.

The new initiative under the PepsiCo-owned brand “Lay’s” has the potential to address these challenges by using satellite imagery correlated with remote sensing data to provide insights. The system can generate a forecast up to 10 days in advance which can assist farmers in identifying different crop stages, and close monitoring of crop health, including a disease warning system that relies on weather forecasts and historical data.

In India, PepsiCo works directly and indirectly with over 27,000 farmers across 14 states and 100% of the potatoes for its “Lay’s” brand are sourced from farmers within the country. In its pilot stage, the necessary training and handholding to the farmers is being provided through field agronomists who are helping them understand the dashboard and leverage the insights. Currently, the model covers 62 farms as a trial: 51 in Gujarat and 11 in Madhya Pradesh.

The dashboards and related information would be accessed by the farmers through easy-to-use smartphone-based apps, namely “Cropin Grow” for farm data management and “Plot Risk” for crop intelligence. The apps can support multiple languages, and PepsiCo plans to offer the solutions in 14 regional languages in alignment with its commitment towards inclusivity in the supply chain. Built using the world's largest crop knowledge graph, Cropin's predictive and plot intelligence models are fine-tuned for specific crop varieties, conditions, and locations.

PepsiCo in India started exploring agricultural technology in 2018 with the Digitalization of agricultural operations, which were moved to SAP systems under the Smart Agro Program. The program's main goal was to add value by increasing productivity and water safety through affordable technology. The Crop Intelligence Model is yet another digital innovation with the potential of being implemented at a fractional cost per acre compared to other solutions, making it affordable and scalable even for small-scale farmers.

About PepsiCo:

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. 

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