On January 9, participants of a business trip to India, organized by the Potato System magazine with the support of the Potato Union and the POTATOES NEWS portal, visited the office of Technico Agri Sciences Limited, specializing in original and elite potato seed production.
More about the company: Technico Agri Sciences Limited is a subsidiary of ITC Limited and has been operating since March 1999. It is one of the largest producers of seed potatoes in India. It also grows table potatoes, rice, soybeans, onions, coffee and other crops.
Representatives of Technico Agri Sciences Limited told Russian specialists about the seed production direction of their enterprise.
The company produces potato mini-tubers (40 million per year, using the aeroponic method), and also receives the first field generation, super-super-elite and super-elite.
Growing field generations of potatoes is carried out on an area of 13000 acres (about 5260 hectares), the company cooperates with more than 1500 farmers. Seed plots are organized in three states and twenty regions of the country.
The company is relying on table potato seed material, as processing is just beginning to develop in India. But gradually varieties for the production of chips and French fries are being introduced into the assortment. Work in this direction is being carried out in collaboration with global processing giants such as Pepsico, McCain and more
Technico Agri Sciences Limited also works jointly with the world's largest breeding and seed companies, including Meijer, HZPC etc.
The company sells the resulting products domestically and exports them (to Asian and African countries).
According to Technico Agri Sciences Limited, the company currently holds about 32% of the premium potato seed market in the country. The immediate plans include increasing production (introducing new equipment that will allow the production of an additional 50 million mini-tubers per year). This will allow the company to claim 50% of the market.
On January 10, expedition participants will go to a laboratory for the production of healthy potato seed material, and will also visit the fields of specialized farms. Tomorrow we will tell you how potatoes are grown in India. Follow the news!