PepsiCo has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China to promote “sustainable agriculture projects”.

As part of the joint initiative, the food and beverage company and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture will build and operate demonstration farms to showcase advanced irrigation, fertilization and crop management techniques. They also will collaborate to promote best practices across China’s farming system to improve yields.

Wang Ying, director general of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture, said: “The advancement of sustainable agriculture is an important component of China’s agriculture policy. The 12th Five-Year Plan adopted last year set out clear objectives for the development of sustainable agriculture in the new era, especially the need for speeding up agricultural modernisation.

“By partnering with PepsiCo, we will be able to enlist advanced foreign technologies for the building of modern farms and promote best practices across the country. This is a substantive step in our efforts to carry out the policies and guidelines introduced in the Five-Year Plan.”

In May 2010, PepsiCo announced that it is investing $2.5bn in its China business over the next few years, on top of $1bn investment announced in 2008.

PepsiCo is one of the largest agricultural enterprises in the world, growing and using more than four million tons of potatoes for its Frito-Lay snacks, 600,000 tons of oats for its Quaker food products, and three million tons of oranges and other fruits and vegetables for its Tropicana and other juice brands every year.

Source: www.fastmoving.co.za