Coca-Cola India, Jain Irrigation Partner with Farmers to Boost Mango Production

Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation have launched a unique partnership to help India's mango famers double their yields and increase their incomes through the use of modern farming practices.

Project Unnati will promote the use of Ultra-High Density Plantation (UHDP) practices, which help mango orchards reach their full potential in three to four years, compared with seven to nine years with traditional planting methods. These sustainable techniques also allow nearly 600 trees to be planted on a single acre, compared to the conventional method of 40 trees per acre.

During the project's first phase, 200 demo farms between one and three acres will use UHDP techniques for mango cultivation while also utilizing the benefits of drip irrigation. This will improve farmers' annual income by increasing per-acre yields while simultaneously decreasing the amount of water used during mango production.

Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation each will invest USD$1 million in the initial phase of the project, which will focus on select farms in the Chittoor and Cudappa districts of Andhra Pradesh. This area is renowned for its production of the Totapuri Mango, a key ingredient in Maaza, India's top-selling mango drink.

UHDP practices represent viable and sustainable solutions to meet the growing demand for packaged mango-based beverages in the coming years.

The initial demo farms will showcase and train farmers on UHDP practices under a capability-building program jointly managed by Coca-Cola University and Jain Irrigation. Coca-Cola University's curriculum of training programs in India includes "Parivartan," which has successfully trained more than 70,000 traditional retailers through classroom teaching and a customized, on-the-go training bus.