PepsiCo is planning to invest $5 million in India by 2020 to expand and enhance its agricultural operations in the country, according to local media reports.

PepsiCo works with 24,000 farmers in the country, who grow rice, potato, corn and citrus for the company’s brands such as Lays, Kurkure snacks, Tropicana.

A report from news outlet Krishi Jagran claims that the investment will aim to improve agricultural practices in the country through digital technology and more sustainable farming practices.

The report claims that the company’s current sustainable farming programme has increased potato yields by up to 13%, as the company has provided advice and guidance on field agronomy, plant protection techniques, and irrigation.

Christine Daugherty, global vice-president of Sustainable Agriculture at PepsiCo told Krishi Jagran: “The company has plans to double the mutual farming network in the next 5 years, including expansion to new geographies.

“We are linking farmers to mobile apps which gives information from pest management to weather information.

“In the year 2017, through our supervision of direct seeding of rice rather than going for flooding the fields and transplanting, we helped save 16.73 billion litres of water in six states i.e. Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu”