Srinagar, July 13: Bayer, a multinational company with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture, is partnering with Kashmir’s Fruitbee Agritech Private Limited (Orchardly), a pioneer in the apple supply chain industry in an effort to facilitate greater modernization of India’s apple value chain.
Speaking at an event organised in Srinagar for the signing of the agreement, the company representatives said that the move was designed to improve smallholder apple growers’ productivity and income.
Fruitbee Agritech drives with the vision “People-not-profits, we are growers first” providing complete farm-to-fork solutions with their modern state-of-the-art climate-controlled storage and logistics services with a capacity of 15,000 metric tonnes, an official said.
The collaboration will support over 10,000 apple smallholders with better access to ecologically sustainable agri-inputs, agronomic advisory, Fruitbee Agritech’s technical expertise and market linkages to enhance their farm profitability and income.
Further, project farmers will receive a customized schedule of crop management for Apple and other crops through Bayer that will help establish early warning systems to safeguard apple crops against diseases, pests, and adverse weather.
Speaking about Bayer’s role in the collaboration, Ajeet Chahal, Lead – Commercial Key Accounts and Alternate Business Models, Bayer Crop Science Limited said, “we are looking at targeted interventions for smallholder apple growers such as integrated crop management solutions with a focus on high-density plantations and other food value-chain interventions to improve grower’s productivity and quality of apples in line with the consumer requirements.”
Uzair Javaid from Fruitbee Agritech Private Limited (Orchadly) said, “We are pleased to join hands with Bayer Crop Science for sustainability in the food value chain. This will pave the way for a strong foundation for providing optimal resources to farmers and helping them with modern agricultural practices.”