Smart and Sustainable Farming

Improving agricultural resource efficiency and adapting to climate change

Our innovative practices are aimed at improving agricultural resource efficiency by partnering with Farmers for water usage efficiency and educating farmers on various farm operating practices.

Mitigating climate change

  • We source our potatoes from local farmers to reduce CO2 emissions due to transportation, storage, and freight.
  • We focus on optimizing the use of fertilizers through strategic placement and increasing the use of nutrient restoring cover crops.
  • We encourage our storage partners to adapt renewable energy sources like solar PV to reduce CO2 footprint.
  • In F22,our C02 emissions intensity reduced by 16% (baseline F17)
  • Pesticide use intensity reduced by 79% (baseline F17)

Good agricultural practices

  • Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) is a recognized on-farm food safety and sustainability program. Our growers are encouraged to employ GAP to ensure food safety, traceability, environmental sustainability, biodiversity and soil health.
  • 94% of Contracted Potato Volume certified by Global GAP, up from 83% in F21.
  • In F22 we have invested more than 2600 hours of growers training, up 21% from F21.

Sustainable water usage

  • We promote sustainable water practices with all our growers.
  • We encourage our growers to opt for drip and sprinkler irrigation as opposed to flood irrigation to ensure water efficiency usage.
  • 100% of our existing growers use these systems.
  • Our water use efficiency improved by 8% (baseline F17).

Innovation and technology

  • Our farming practices are constantly evolving through the usage of new and recent technologies.
  • We use the latest machinery to support our farming practices.
  • We are working on developing a model farm, which will be based on Good Agricultural Practices, Sustainability, and Profitability.

Future-proofing rural livelihoods through agricultural development

  • We work with more than 1000 growers whom we consider part of our family.
  • We empower our growers with training, knowledge and new technology pertaining to precision farming, data-driven agriculture, pest management, storage practices, and post-harvest handling practices.
  • We offer technical training to our growers’ partner with the aid of multinational irrigation and Agri input companies  

Advancing Regenerative Agriculture

Given the increasingly unpredictable climate, the shift towards smart and sustainable farming practices and the use of renewable energy on farms is vital

The six key principles which frame our practice include:

  • Armour soils preferable with living plants.
  • Minimize soil disturbance.
  • Enhance crop and ecosystem diversity.
  • Reduce agro-chemical impacts and optimize water use.
  • Ensure farm resilience.
  • Integrate organic and live stock elements.

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Resource Efficient Operations

We aim to implement a zero waste model by using 100% recyclable materials. This allows for efficient resource operations by means of 100% renewable energy that reduces CO2 emissions.

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*Images for illustrative purposes only

© 2023 McCain Foods (India) Private Limited